I 





Class /fJIgg^O 

Book* Or *q - 

CopyrigME? 



CGEERIGHT DEPOSfT. 






WHAT THE WORKERS 
WANT 

A STUDY OF BRITISH LABOR 



BY 



ARTHUR GLEASON 



n 



NEW YORK 

HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE 

1920 



<tf 



v- 



COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY 
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE, INC. 



MAY 29 1920 



THE QUINN A BODEN COMPANY 
RAHWAY. N. J. 



g)CI.A571149 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



INTRODUCTION 3 

SECTION ONE 
CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

CHAPTER 

I. Change 5 

II. A Revolution without a Philosophy 9 

III. Labor the Unready 25 



SECTION TWO 
THE YEAR 

I. The British Coal Commission 33 

II. Robert Smillie 56 

III. The National Industrial Conference 70 

IV. Youth at the Stirrup. — The Labor Party Conference at 

Southport 79 

V. The Congress at Glasgow 112 

VI. The Railway Strike and the Fourteen .... 136 

SECTION THREE 
THE WAY THEY DO IT 

I. The Way They Do It 147 

II. Gentle Revolution. 1 152 

III. Gentle Revolution. II 161 



SECTION FOUR 
WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

I. Workers' Control (by Frank Hodges, Secretary of the 

Miners' Federation) 169 

II. The Shop Stewards and Workers' Committee Movement 

(by J. T. Murphy) 184 

HI. Their Ideas (by J. T. Murphy) 201 

v 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

IV. Self-Govern ment by Railwaymen (by C. T. Cramp, 

President of the National Union of Railwaymen) . 212 
V. The England the Workers Want — When — How (by 

Robert Smillie, of the Miners' Federation) . . .215 



SECTION FIVE 

PROBLEMS 

I. Women 223 

II. Bottomley 240 

III. Warblington.— The Old England 243 

SECTION SIX 
THE SUMMING UP ' . . 249 

APPENDIX 

SECTION ONE 
THE EMPLOYERS 

I. Federation of British Industries. — The Control of In- 
dustry. — Report of the Nationalization Committee . 281 
II. Evidence of the Right Honorable Baron Gainford of 

Headlam to the Coal Industry Commission . . . 302 
III. My Dream of a Factory (B. Seebohm Rowntree) . . 306 

SECTION TWO 
MASTERS AND MEN 

I. National Industrial Conference Report (April 4, 1919) 317 

II. The Builders' Parliament . 339 

III. Joint Standing Industrial Councils (The Whitleys) . 358 

SECTION THREE 
THE WORKERS 

I. Memorandum on the Causes of and Remedies for Labor 

Unrest 371 

II. The Nationalization of Mines and Minerals Bill . . 394 

III. Precis of Evidence (G. D. H. Cole) 409 



CONTENTS 



SECTION FOUR 
THE JUDGMENT 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Coal Industry Commission Act, 1919 (The Sankey Re- 
port) 422 

II. Government Offer to Railwaymen 441 



SECTION FIVE 
THE PUBLIC 

I. The English Middle Class 446 

II. Origins of British Socialism 455 

III. The New Class of Government Servant .... 477 

IV. What People Say 487 

INDEX 507 



WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 



INTRODUCTION 

This book tells what the workers want, in their own words. 
It is not an interpretation by an intellectual of what, he thinks 
labor ought to want. It is the human record of British labor 
as it goes to victory, reported by an American for Americans. 
It tells what the explosive ideas are which have long lain un- 
discharged in human consciousness. It tells in their own 
words who the leaders are, what the strikes meant, what the 
workers have won, and what they seek. Labor at home is an 
agitation; in Britain it is forming public opinion. The trade 
unions are an integral part of the State. The great trade- 
union Socialists are successfully righting the sweep of anarchy 
from Eastern and Central Europe and the murderous bitter- 
ness of American industrial relations. 

In this book the writer completes a five years' study of 
the British. He attended the conferences, met groups of 
trade unionists, talked personally with the leaders. He sat 
through the two sessions of the Coal Commission, attended 
the National Industrial Conference. 

One of the chapters in the book is by Robert Smillie, miner, 
founder of the Triple Alliance, most powerful trade-union 
leader in Europe. Mr. Smillie answers for American readers 
the questions which millions of people have been asking: 
"What kind of England do the workers want?" "When? 
How soon ? " " How ? By bloodshed, universal strikes, or 
votes ? By public opinion or organized pressure ? " Mr. 
Smillie describes the revolution now under way, how the vic- 
tory will be won, and the date of the achievement. He says, 
" It is a race between Socialism and revolution. Socialism 
is the only program of reconstruction that is offered." 

The Appendix gives in full the important documents of the 

3 



4 INTRODUCTION 

social revolution. It gives the famous memorandum of the 
trade unions to the National Industrial Conference — sup- 
pressed by the Government. It gives the profit-sharing 
scheme of the Coal Owners ; the payment-by-results scheme of 
the 16,000 leading firms, known as the Federation of British 
Industries. It gives the Report of the Builders' Parliament, 
signed by three employers and the workers, calling for 
the abolition of " the owner," and the end of profit-making. 
It gives the demands of the Miners for full workers' con- 
trol. It details the evidence of the Coal Commission on 
the new type of Government servant which nationalization 
demands and which Sidney Webb produces. It places the 
Middle Class, and shows the origins of British Socialism 
in the revolutionary mind of the British people. 

The old British industrial system is dying. It was decaying 
long before 1914. It was killed by the War. It was the system 
of private enterprise, directed by the profit-making motive 
of the ruling group, and operated by the mass of workers, 
driven by fear and hunger. Through organization the work- 
ers have obtained such control over industry as to render it 
unworkable at their will. They refuse to give high produc- 
tion except on their own terms. Their terms are a new 
industrial system — the Socialist State, 1 with workers' control. 

They have presented their ultimatum. Step by step the 
new order is being established. It is being done without 
armed insurrection, or bloodshed. It is gentle revolution of 
the good-humored British brand. It may appeal at one or two 
points to America, torn by hysteria and bitterness. England 
for centuries has created the institutions which other nations 
perforce copied in order to survive. 

England to-day is creating a new great society while the 
rest of the world is swaying in class-combat, or sunk in 
despair, or menaced by reaction. 

*As defined by the Labor Party. 



SECTION ONE 
CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

CHAPTER I 

CHANGE 

Britain is faced by universal unrest in the working class 
and by a demand that economic power shall be shifted from 
the owners of capital to the workers. In good faith many 
men are stating that this social revolution (which is world- 
wide) is the work of Marx and Sorel, or of a handful of 
" middle-class politicians," " intellectuals," " agitators," and 
"Jew Bolshevists." In short, that the conquest of human- 
ity's thinking which Jesus and his eleven disciples and his 
multitude of later followers in nineteen hundred years could 
not accomplish, has been wrought in one generation by a 
small self-seeking incompetent group; and that the masses 
of people everywhere (exactly, the human race) has been 
led astray like sheep. But the causes lie deeper than " Bol- 
shevik gold." 

Britain is the text of the world revolution because her 
history promises that she will devise staunch channels for 
this new impulse of the human spirit, as she has done down 
the generations. With many failures she has maintained a 
tradition of freedom of speech, and of liberty for the indi- 
vidual, which gives a temperate climate for social revolution. 
And she possesses a political instinct for compromise and ad- 
justment, which enables her to construct the machinery for 
profound change. I venture to predict that England will 
make an adjustment early and sane, and that she will be the 
first country to enter the new age equipped and unembittered. 

The ideas which are now remolding institutions in Eng- 

5 



6 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

land and in Europe have lain hidden in the heart of hu- 
manity through the ages. They are " high explosives." They 
are dangerous to established things. They mean the over- 
throw of privilege. They have a long history. They rode 
the imagination of several of the Hebrew prophets. They 
reappeared in a few passages of Plato. They took shape 
in the " natural law " of the Latins and the Churchmen. 
They were reborn in the beginnings of England, and flared 
and flickered from John Ball to the Chartists. They flashed 
briefly in action a few times in France. It is naive to confuse 
their origins with the researches of a German exile in the 
British Museum, or with a middle-class Bergsonian in 
Boulogne. 1 

But they never received a trial. They welled up from 
man's suffering and aspirations only to be forced back to 
the deeper regions of his unconscious life, where they con- 
tinued their subterranean tunneling, a stream seeking the 
light. The instinct for freedom, the desire for equality, never 
died. 

These ideas have taken on the expression of each period 
in which they struggled for mastery. The expression of 
them to-day is: 

The workers wish to be the public servants of community 
enterprise, not the hired hands of private enterprise. 

They refuse to work longer for a system of private profits 
divided in part among non-producers. 

They demand a share in the control and responsibilities of 
the work they do (not only welfare and workshop conditions, 
but discipline and management and commercial administra- 
tion). 

They demand a good life, which means a standard of living 
(in terms of wages and hours) that provides leisure, recrea- 
tion, education, health, comfort, and security. 

Or, putting these desires into the compact phrases of agi- 
tation: The workers are using their economic and political 

iThe statement of these ideas, historically, and their pedigree are 
given in the Appendix, Section 5, Chapter II. 



CHANGE 7 

power to obtain nationalization of key industries, joint con- 
trol in the management of them, a minimum wage, a basic 
wage, a shortened working week, a capital levy on war 
profiteers. 

Before the War, these ideas about property, profits, 
privilege, freedom in work, equality, public service, the State, 
were rapidly approaching their time of testing in action. 
From the beginning of the twentieth century a revolutionary 
period was in swing. The War speeded up the pace. 

The War weakened Government by Parliament or Con- 
gress. It left naked and unashamed a little inner group of 
executives ruling the State, which was Government by inner 
Cabinet. We have even learned (from such partial revela- 
tions as Henderson and Barnes have made) that not all of 
this tiny group were fully consulted. Accordingly we saw 
Government by Lloyd George. For the possession of his 
person, the great organized groups struggle. Disregarding 
the debating society of Parliament, and going directly to 
the sacred presence of the chief of the State, financiers, 
business men, the press, and trade unions present their de- 
mands. Public opinion is the timorous cry which the middle 
class and the unorganized fringes of society make at the 
spectacle of the struggle. 

Labor was weakened politically by the War. Its elected 
representatives were powerless on policy. Its manifestoes 
were scraps of paper. 

But its industrial action was amazingly strong — an as- 
tonishment to itself. It needed but the threat of a strike 
for swift redress in the scale of living. One gesture from 
Smillie, and Asquith reversed Government policy on coolie 
labor. Labor had only to shake its puissant locks to see a 
ripple of respectful wonderment pass over the face of so- 
ciety. It was not the only factor in production. But it 
learned that it was one of the indispensable factors. The 
poor began to dream dreams. From the chambers of their 
buried life ancient hopes rose again. 

For the first time in history partly conscious of their power, 



8 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

the workers now determine to create a social order in which 
they share the benefits, the responsibility, and the control. 
Huge arrears of ignorance and incompetence remain to be 
overcome before this new estate can administer deftly and 
smoothly. In the transition period, much hangs on the de- 
cision which individuals of the possessing class will make. 
If the experts, the men of directive capacity, the managerial 
group, and other useful members of the middle class are 
surly at the change, and refuse to work the machinery of pro- 
duction, there will be more trouble than the western world 
has yet seen. Only by determined good-will can the next 
ten years be made even tolerable. 



CHAPTER II 

A REVOLUTION WITHOUT A PHILOSOPHY 

The " arbiters of contemporary events " are the workers, but 
they do not fully know it. The center of authority is in labor, 
but it exercises its authority only in spurts and spasms. 
Failure to recognize this latent power of labor is to lose 
track of where " the ball " is and to whom it is being passed. 
It is to concentrate attention on the blanketed figures at the 
side lines, who madly dance up and down and scream. 

Mr. James A. Farrell, president of the United States Steel 
Corporation (at the sixth National Foreign Trade Convention, 
April, 1919), said: "Production is always a question of 
profit," and he called it " a fundamental law." 

Fundamental laws, like general principles, have a way of 
escaping under sharp analysis, like a netted jellyfish. 

That he meant " profit " in its meaning of reward for 
private effort is proved by his preceding and qualifying 
sentence in which " he called for such legislation on com- 
merce as to render the enterprise competitive." 

The luxury of an incentive of unlimited rewards to induce 
idle capital to invest has been purchased in Britain by low 
wages to manual workers and low salaries to managers, 
technical men, and men of directive and administrative 
ability. This gamble and adventure of sliding scale returns 
to capital have been proved to be a luxury. What is more 
needed is an incentive to managers and to manual workers 
to give high production. Private enterprise, private owner- 
ship, which aims at profits for shareholders, has failed to 
give the needed incentive to workers by hand and brain. 
Large sections of workers refuse any longer to operate the 
system of private enterprise: that treadmill of muzzled oxen 
which grinds out profits for shareholders. The social revolu- 

9 



10 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

tion, now under way in Britain, has been hastened by this 
fact that the capitalists and employers x have lost control of 
labor. Labor in certain of the key industries refuses longer 
to work for a system of "private enterprise" and "private 
profits." In America " private enterprise " is a religious idea, 
closely interwoven with the ideas of " God " and " Coun- 
try." To challenge it is to pass under such scornful censure 
as met the atheist in the days of State religion. But in Britain, 
war-profiteering destroyed the last vestige of reverence for 
" private enterprise " as a religious idea. And intellectual 
respect for " private enterprise " was undermined by the 
Coal Commission, where the coal owners were unable to 
construct a case against the naive questioning of Mr. Smillie 
and Mr. Sidney Webb. 

The lords (a Duke, an Earl, and some Marquises) made a 
better showing in their defense of royalties (for which they 
give no work, but receive $y 2 pence on every ton raised in 
Britain) than the coal owners made in their defense of 
profits. The reason was simple. The coal owners waged 
their combat on facts, and were routed because facts were 
against them. The lords fell back on mysticism — the great 
tradition of the upper class — religion, morality, the sacred- 
ness of property. The voice of each of them rang with 
conviction (except the voice of the very charming Marquis 
of Bute, who lisped). To state a belief in things unseen is 
an act of faith, and always inspires respect among intelligent 
persons. So when an engaging red-haired youth, named 
the Duke of Northumberland, uttered his conviction that 
England would go down if his unearned income was touched 
the King's Robing Room rang with applause. 

The very moderate and minor amendments which the 
workers have already obtained, arouse a loud cackle of dis- 
may. When the knife really enters there will be a cry. To 
obtain a standard of well-being which merely puts them on a 
level with that of corresponding American workers in pre- 

1 With the good-will of labor withdrawn, their "property" loses 
in value. 



A REVOLUTION WITHOUT A PHILOSOPHY 11 

war days, the British workers have had to take determined 
action, which is described as revolutionary, and which will 
dislocate the industrial system as it existed before the War. 
It will take many years, perhaps a generation, to work out 
these demands for a decent minimum, and meanwhile pro- 
duction will suffer, prices in competitive foreign trade will 
go against the British exporter. It now requires a revolution 
to accomplish what in a country of richer natural resources, 
of higher wages, of modern machinery, would have taken 
place automatically. So long has justice been denied that 
the simplest changes mean drastic reconstruction, with an 
upset. So simple and elementary a step as, for instance, the 
transfer of the key industries to public ownership, will be 
bitterly fought. Britain was a 29-shilling-a-week country. 
Year after year and up to the day of the War, men were 
underpaid. Britain conducted her business (commerce and 
industry) on a wage scale so low as to give no well-being 
to the mass of manual workers, and primary poverty to a 
considerable proportion of them. Now there is going to be 
poverty for all. The upper classes put off paying the 
score. They played their system of underpay till it was 
over-ripe. Now there isn't enough machinery ready to ease 
them into plenty. Labor is at the door and demands the 
greatly higher wage. Too late for gentle adjustment. Now 
it is pay the wage and lessen the hours, and lose the mo- 
nopoly grip on foreign markets. It is poverty for all. 

The price Britain paid for building an economic system 
on a foundation of human misery is this: 

1. Her men of directive managerial administrative ca- 
pacity loafed on their job. They failed to install sufficient 
modern standardized machinery in industry. They saved 
costs by cheap labor, instead of saving costs by high pro- 
duction through modern machinery and high wages. 

2. Sections of the upper middle class and the upper class 
lived on the community through the ownership of land, royal- 
ties, wayleaves, speculative shares. A more equalitarian so- 
ciety would have driven them into the ranks of the producers. 



12 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

To-day they are being forced to work. As M. Jouhaux, sec- 
retary of the French Federation of Labor, said on June 26: 
" The world stands before the bankruptcy of the middle 
class." 

3. Low wages affected the British working class: 

(a) by leading to the emigration of some of their 
sturdy, adventurous, ambitious stock; 

(b) deterioration in physique of sections of the indus- 
trial population; 

(c) the lessening of efficiency not alone through di- 
minished vitality but also by breeding bad habits of 
ca' canny, i.e., of slack work, or restricted produc- 
tion. 

(This wide-spread system of trade-union restrictions was 
of course necessary as a protection against overwork, long 
hours, the strain of speeding up on impaired reserve 
strength. ) 

There was a hot time coming to Britain, and it has come. 
There is nothing that can stop the tumble, for the mass is 
in motion. The day of reckoning would have come if there 
had been no war. 

The middle class are protesting vigorously at being auto- 
matically abolished. They do not turn their wrath upon the 
economic system which in its ebbing has left them high and 
dry, as the tide leaves a boat on the beach. They turn their 
wrath upon labor, whose high wages are to them the visible 
sign of their own decay, and therefore seem to them the cause 
of that decay. But they fail to ask why their own incomes 
have not lifted. If they had asked the question, they would 
have found the answer. They cannot better their incomes 
because they do not " strike." And the reason they do not 
strike is because they cannot. If they struck, nothing would 
happen. The crops would still grow, the harvesters would 
still come bringing in their sheaves. Engineers would roll 
the Liverpool trains into Euston Station. Coal would be 
hewn. Girls would still stitch. Folks would continue to be 
be fed and clothed and transported. The solar system would 



A REVOLUTION WITHOUT A PHILOSOPHY 13 

revolve, and the little wheels of industry would revolve. Life 
and the human race would go on untroubled, without blinking 
an eyelash if the middle class rose in a splendid fury and 
established a soviet and the dictatorship of the respectable. 
Theirs would be a heroic gesture, but a gesture in the void. 
They are not of the stuff to make earth tremble. 

Their difficulty is that they do not perform a function 
which is any longer essential. As their function fails, their 
" rights " fade away. 

The Nineteenth Century was the last century of the middle 
class — "that portion of the community to which money is 
the primary condition and the primary instrument of life." 1 
They were the individual middlemen, and that function is 
being taken over by the vaster organization of distribution, 
by chain stores, by co-operative societies, by great emporiums. 
They were the collectors of little individual pools of capital, 
and that function is being taken over by the big trusts and 
nationalized industries, which use their own productive effi- 
ciency in terms of present profits to accumulate for reserves, 
extensions, and new embarkations. As the process of col- 
lective expropriation proceeds, through the capital levy, death 
duties, profits tax and income tax, this section of the 
middle class is going to be gently and almost painlessly elim- 
inated. 

But there are groups in the middle class who do perform 
a function. What of them? 

A large section of the " salariat," the black-coated pro- 
letariat, are already forming their associations and trade 
unions and getting into the game. Britain has the Railway 
Clerks' Association of station-masters, agents, and chief 
clerks. The Post Office and Civil Service has a Postmen's 
Federation of 65,000 members, a Postal and Telegraph Clerks' 
Association of 27,000, the Fawcett Association of 6,000, the 
new Society of Civil Servants, the Association of Staff 
Clerks, and others. The National Union of Teachers has 
100,000, and is so thoroughly organized as to call strikes 

1 No definition of the middle class, yet devised, is adequate. 



14 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

and win wage advances. There is a Union of Engineering 
Foremen and a Federation of Brain Workers. The Associa- 
tion of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen is a 
trade union and a part of the labor movement. The Associa- 
tion of Industrial Chemists is on the way. 

While the useless and festering mass of the middle class 
can be extracted without damage to the body politic (without 
any notice even being taken, except for the momentary cry 
at the peak of the operation), the same swift skilled treatment 
is not possible or desirable for these living members, just 
listed. Neither hot air nor gas could disguise the loss, if 
anything rude were done to managers, deputies, supervisory 
grades, professionals, superintendents, foremen, brain work- 
ers. Many of their associations have joined and are joining 
the labor movement. Others are resolute in keeping clear. 
The miners have often kept themselves clear of the labor 
movement. Thus, when Lloyd George harnessed in the Brit- 
ish trade unions to the unified purpose of the State (includ- 
ing later the execution of the secret treaties), the miners 
refused to sign away their power. Being a key industry, they 
could enforce their will. It is possible that in these next 
five years we shall witness similar behavior on the part of 
powerful professional associations like the doctors. They 
could not go down to extinction like the bulk of the middle 
class, because they perform a supremely important function, 
and it is conceivable that they may prefer a lone Guild — or 
Soviet — role to that of affiliation to the Labor Party. 

On the other hand, the teachers in recent annual confer- 
ence frankly confessed their debt to labor, and a section of 
teachers from the Rhondda Valley, avowedly under the in- 
fluence of the miners' example, successfully led the confer- 
ence to demand workers' control. 

I heard the drowned voice of the technical expert at the 
National Industrial Council; Sir Robert Home and Lloyd 
George had got their industrial community nicely lined up 
into two neat compartments — employers and workers. And 
suddenly out of the dim hall came a small voice of protest, 



A REVOLUTION WITHOUT A PHILOSOPHY 15 

and the protestant walked to the platform and spoke his 
piece of how he represented a large group of technical em- 
ployees. 1 He was promptly squelched by the Government 
officials, who implied: 

"Why is life full of these alien particles? They tear 
through paper programs. They poison the pipe of peace." 

At any moment this pathetic invaded little neutral may 
become the Serbia that precipitates the class war, or the Bel- 
gium over whose dead body as a moral emblem the Big Ones 
fight. Always the fight is said to be on behalf of the Little 
Nation. The royalty owners and coal owners pleaded that 
rich rewards should go to directive capacity. Then the rec- 
ords were dug up and it was found that a large percentage of 
colliery managers received £400 a year. 

These lively remains of the middle class will have to be 
incorporated in the new social order. 

The Guild of Insurance Officials numbers 10,000 and in- 
cludes all branches of insurance staffs from branch man- 
agers to junior clerks. There is the Bank Clerks' Union. The 
Professional Workers' Federation numbers 174,000, and in- 
cludes the National Union of Teachers, the Incorporated 
Association of Assistant Masters, the Customs and Excise 
Federation, the Second Division Clerks' Association, the As- 
sociation of Assistant Mistresses. The National Union of 
Journalists, which met in delegate meeting on Good Friday, 
represented 4,000 members, out for " salaries and hours." A 
representative said : " The gentleman who turns out the gas- 
lamps in front of my house is paid more than my colleague; 
the other gentleman who calls to record the figures on my 
gas-meter is paid more than I am." 

These organizations range from group meetings to trade 
unions, but they are alike in their consciousness of function 
and in their demand to win representation in the State be- 
cause of that function. Organized management, organized 
technical and scientific knowledge and skill is, then, in some 

1 The Society of Technical Engineers. 



16 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

instances, joining the labor movement. In other instances, it 
is an independent force in industry. 

These organizations are of more importance than the 
Middle Classes' Union, recently formed, which will not be 
effective, because, failing to represent function, it will be 
unable to exert industrial pressure. So its resolutions will 
pass into the Morning Post, instead of into law. It has no 
power to combine, because it does not perform essential serv- 
ices. If it attempts to break strikes by black-legging, it will 
create disorder and will be eliminated by any Government 
which seeks law and order. 

The organizer of the Middle Classes' Union is Kennedy 
Jones, M.P. He says: 

In almost every country in Europe to-day the middle classes 
are being attacked. I. Who are the middle classes? 2. What can 
the middle classes do, even if they organize and combine? The 
middle classes are all those unorganized citizens, from the point 
of view of voting power, who stand between the organized and 
federated worker on the one hand and the smaller, but almost 
equally powerful class, who stand for organized and consolidated 
Capital on the other. The middle classes are that large body in 
the nation who work with their heads rather than their hands, 
and in whom by far the greater part of the national brain is con- 
centrated. They comprise all the professions, learned and other- 
wise, shopkeepers, and clerks, and those who help to manage in- 
dustries and businesses of every sort. To these classes belong both 
the soldier and the sailor, the stockbroker and the clergyman, the 
barrister and the architect, the grocer and the solicitor, the author 
of great works and the men and women whose writings are con- 
fined to ledgers. 

At question time a lady asked if there was any objection 
to younger branches of the aristocracy, " who are as poor as 
church mice," joining the Union. 

The chairman replied that if any impoverished earl wished 
to join the Middle Classes' Union, they would be glad to 
welcome him. 

In advertising for members, the Union announces: 



A REVOLUTION WITHOUT A PHILOSOPHY 17 

The Union has been formed to protect the great, hitherto unor- 
ganized, Middle Classes, against the insatiable demands of Labor, 
the Power of Capital, the indifference of Governments. 

There are many definitions of the middle class as seen by 
itself. Here are a few: 

Those members of the Community who work with brain and pen. 

Lying between Capital and Labor. 

Every one between the artisan and the aristocrat. 

A state of mind. 

People with small fixed incomes. 

Bernard Shaw says that a middle-class man is a man who 
would refuse anything less than a five-pound fee. 

The Middle Classes' Union is amusing, but unimportant. 
It is unimportant because all that is effective in it will seek 
expression through other groups — the professional associa- 
tions and trade unions. 

To sum up what has been said on the middle classes. 1 (i) 
The non-functioning sections are being squeezed out of ex- 
istence. (2) Some of the supervisory grades are joining the 
labor movement. (3) Some groups of managers and other 
brain workers, such as doctors, are keeping themselves clear 
of either armed camp of capitalist or labor. They are 
likely to find themselves in the position of a neutral State, 
lying between two great powers. (4) The artist, research 
scientist, creator of values, will have the same lot in these 
next few years as he has always known. The swaying of 
forces in combat cannot make him more lonely than he has 
been in the modern world. He will not be less lonely until 
a free humanity is able to enjoy creative work. His sym- 
pathies run with the disinherited who now, at long last, climb 
to power. But he has no illusions that their sympathies will 
be with him. 

Certain theorists profess to see in the British labor move- 
ment pure syndicalism. Thus, I quote from J. W. Scott, 

1 See Appendix, Section Five — " The Middle Class." 



18 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

lecturer in moral philosophy in the University of Glasgow: 
" Syndicalism and Philosophical Realism " : 

Much current philosophy [by which he means the evolutionism 
of Bergson and the realism of Bertrand Russell] would, if 
true, essentially justify what is sometimes spoken of as the new 
philosophy of Labor. Syndicalism is the voice of the failure of 
something. The placing of the chief end of men in economics 
and in the salvation of a class is of the nature of a relapse. It 
is the failure of the long effort to achieve the good for man as 
such — the good, not of one class, but of all classes. Syndicalism 
is the failure of the socialistic idea to prove its fitness for po- 
litical power. It is the very voice of socialism at the confes- 
sional, confessing its inability to do what it set out to do, namely, 
run a State. 

It is true that a few extremists talk in Bergsonian terms 
of the change. " The march of events." " The revolutionary 
moment." " The instinctive movement of the masses." They 
have gone on from Marx to Bergson. In the old patter, the 
economic conditions were going to ripen inevitably till the 
proletariat took over power. Now, " the march of events " 
is " an instinctive movement " of the people. 

But to imply that British labor is syndicalist is an intellec- 
tualistic feat which could only have been carried through an 
entire book by a very young philosopher living in the Clyde 
area. In general, British labor has no philosophy, 1 no general 
outlook, but deals in piecemeal gains by compromise and 
opportunism, with a floundering sureness, like the land- 
progress of a seal. It has, however, determined on those 
gains (such as, for instance, to consolidate the wage-gains 
made during the War), and those gains are ripping the old 
order into small bits. Labor is at the beginning of the 
changes which it will put through in the next ten years. 2 
Those changes seek to obtain: 

1 Minorities have a philosophy. The passage refers to the mass. 

2 And a full generation at least will be required to " constitution- 
alize " and stabilize the changes. The next few years will see more 
unrest than Britain has known in a century. 



A REVOLUTION WITHOUT A PHILOSOPHY 19 

1. A higher standard of living than the average wage of 
any industry yet affords. 

2. More leisure than the working day, as set in any in- 
dustry, yet allows. 

3. Housing (actually in brick, not on paper). 

4. A regulation of private profits. 

5. The nationalization of public utilities. 

6. Joint control in management throughout industry. 

7. Taxation to distribute the wealth of the community. 

8. The elimination of unemployment. 

9. The creation of a good life by education. 

The common people are seeking a cure for what their bril- 
liant young champion, R. H. Tawney, calls " the sickness of 
acquisitive society." They are, as Arthur Henderson puts it, 
in " moral antagonism " to national effort for private gain. 
They are literally sick to death of the life they have known, 
as organized and governed by the owners of land and capital, 
the instigators of war, the manipulators of peace with public 
phrases and private promises. With them in their quest for 
a good life are the noblest of the Church, such as William 
Temple. With them are many of the trained economic and 
industrial minds of England's elite, such as J. A. Hobson, 
Tawney, Webb, Cole, Brailsford. 

But, for all that, the task is gigantic because the status quo 
has an immense specific gravity, all its own. Inertia is woven 
into the fiber of human nature. 

Because of some brilliant pamphlets the friends of labor 
looked to it for a cavalry charge through the disorganized 
hosts of privilege. They hoped for a flying squadron, in 
perfect battle formation, led by some plumed champion, to go 
spurring and prancing towards a clearly seen objective, while, 
falling back before them, the old order would be shouting its 
surrender. Nothing of the sort has happened. The imme- 
diate gains of labor are being made sectionally and not by 
the unified movement. They were largely made in 19 19 by 
the power of the Triple Alliance, headed by Robert Smillie, 
the miner. He is the greatest leader of labor in this gen- 



20 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

eration. 1 He is simple and homely, of rugged integrity, 
of a devotion to his followers unmatched since Keir Hardie 
and Alexander Macdonald. But he and his Triple Alliance, 
in 1 91 9, acted alone, and then waited for the other millions 
of labor to catch up and receive the distributed gain. Labor 
is weaker in influence and slower to act than was anticipated. 
The clue has not been found. The leader of all is not in 
sight. The organization is not perfected. So the mass 
movement drives on under the urge of its instinct to a 
series of next-steps, after the path has been broken by the 
miners and railwaymen. 

There is an utter absence of central government in British 
trade unionism. If trade unionism had a punch mated to its 
bulk, it would have knocked out some of its enemies before 
this. But its punch must be made through the Parliamentary 
Committee of the Trades Union Congress, and the P. C. is so 
perfectly balanced with historical characters, leaders with a 
past, forlorn hopes, and men to memory dear, that it is rever- 
ent in the presence of authority, and eminently solid and safe 
in an age of crisis. It is sometimes in part a blend of bar- 
tered votes. The ancients are occasionally on it, the dis- 
credited, the defeated. All the lazy kindliness of English 
nature wreaks itself on the P. C. 

There is J. B. Williams, who wails that the littlest union 
is never listened to. So on to the P. C. he goes. 

There is W. J. Davis, the oldest active trade unionist. It's 
a pity not to give it to the fine old man. 

There's Havelock Wilson. We swatted him proper in three 
votes. We hate his policy. So, like good fellows, we'll shove 
him aboard. 2 

Then a dashing young leader of British Bolsheviks prances 
down the aisle and swaps votes for one or two more 
places. And by the time the consolation prize and auction 
features are cared for, the membership is buried deep in 

1 In personality, Smillie is much like Eugene Debs. But the British 
democracy has not yet sent him to jail. 

2 Until 1919, when they pushed him into the sea. 



A REVOLUTION WITHOUT A PHILOSOPHY 21 

cotton wool, and there is little decisive action for another 
year. 

But not only is there this temperamental slowness of the 
British, there is at the moment a climate of disillusionment. 
Most of the Government program of reconstruction — hous- 
ing, land, education — has temporarily fallen down. Some day 
it will greatly eventuate, but not to-day. The people after the 
War had looked for a logical fourth act to the drama, with 
stern justice meted to the wicked, rewards and happiness to 
suffering innocents, and a general sense of well-being. But 
they found that a fever had burned them till they were rest- 
less instead of satisfied. They found that they had fed on 
poison so that they were mortified instead of purged. A 
weariness set in, a carelessness of what comes after, and, as 
undertone to the celebration of peace, " the quiet weeping 
of the world." A suppressed bitterness of suffering long 
endured, inequalities of sacrifice, the nag of old wounds, 
unemployment, and hate — these are the deposits of the heady 
tonic of war. One has the sense of a gathering doom, some- 
thing slowly cumulative through the four years of prelude, 
and now thickening for the crash and chaos. The face of the 
sun is darkened over the earth that is black, and the veil of 
all the temples is rent. Faith has died with the death of the 
young men. " Only within the scaffolding of these truths, 
only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the 
soul's habitation henceforth be safely built." Belief and 
hope — we are beyond those eager projections of man's de- 
sires. This sadness and despair condition all efforts of 
group or individual. For the moment, the full devastating 
vision of the futility of human effort has fallen on Europe. 
England shares in this. Why believe in the power of labor to 
redeem a world where all things come to dust? 

I have a friend in the Ministry of Labor, who, falling 
under this disillusionment, and seeing with Scotch acumen 
the limitations of labor, frankly questions its right to rule. 
He said to me : " I am a little doubtful about accepting labor 
as the coming power. So I have been putting two questions to 



22 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

myself recently. Which side would I have been on at the 
time of the French Revolution ? And in an earlier day, would 
I have been in the mob that cried ' Crucify him ' ? I wonder 
now if I am making the refusal to accept a gain of the 
human spirit." 

But it has become academic to debate whether we shall 
accept life and labor. The only matter for practical men now 
to consider is the system to be erected on the ruins of pri- 
vately owned and controlled industry. Which industries shall 
be immediately purchased by the community ? How many and 
which of the functions of management shall immediately pass 
under the control of the workers? How shall this power of 
the producers register itself in Parliament? Shall there be a 
Special House of Producers inside Parliament? Or a Na- 
tional Industrial Council outside? And what shall be the 
relation of that to Parliament? 

As soon as trade-union organization passes 50 per cent (of 
male adult manual workers), the power of it is so great that 
it must function directly upon Congress or Parliament, if the 
State is to remain under constitutional Parliamentary author- 
ity. Only because the American Federation of Labor con- 
tains a minority of workers, has Mr. Gompers failed to recog- 
nize the subversive character of his teachings. If labor does 
not possess a political party, it must by the law of its own 
growth break out in unlawful demonstrations. 

Mr. Gompers, the syndicalists, and the revolutionaries of 
Switzerland and Italy do not believe in the political expression 
of labor. But British labor prefers to work along constitu- 
tional lines, and does not desire to be forced to make its 
democratic gains by direct action. It was driven to its recent 
powerful and victorious use of the industrial weapon by the 
failure of Parliament to carry out its pledges. The miners 
believe that such theories as Mr. Gompers holds will lead a 
State to destruction. Let labor organize for the ballot, and 
vote in the measures it desires. That is why the miners sent 
some 25 representatives to the House. That is why Mr. 
Smillie has always devoted a large portion of his time to 



A REVOLUTION WITHOUT A PHILOSOPHY 23 

political propaganda. He believes that the State should rule 
industry, and that the will of the workers should express 
itself constitutionally. Occasionally the miners jog the State 
into remembering some of its promises, by a pointed resolu- 
tion. 

In the mass of resolutions passed by labor gatherings, it is 
sometimes difficult to tell which are significant. 

There are pious resolutions. 

Moderate pressure. 

And direct-action-if-you-disregard-it. 

Conscription is in the third category. Sending British boys 
to Russia has recently passed over from the temperate zone of 
Number Two to the hair-trigger of Three. It is the anger 
and fierceness of the voice, the fervor of the Hear, Hears, 
that betray whether the nerve has been touched that vibrates 
to action. Labor, as a mass, is ignorant of foreign affairs in 
general, and its policy is often the skilful and sane head-work 
of its recognized intellectual leaders. Whereupon the Con- 
gress or Conference dutifully but dully votes Yes, and 
straightway forgets what manner of policy it thundered to 
a waiting world. It is doubly hard for an outsider to tell 
the difference between a blank cartridge, noisy but impotent, 
and a smokeless Maxim-silenced bullet. Sometimes the poli- 
ticians go wrong and think that a stick of dynamite is a 
stick of candy. Mr. Lloyd George picked up conscription 
and thought it could be chewed. If any other man had been 
equally playful, it would have blown his head off. At that, it 
jarred him. 

The British prefer not to face a thing ahead of time. They 
rely on their reserve strength to see them through. So, right 
now, they are working a greater change than their talk about it 
reveals. And it is going to be done with an accompaniment 
of severer suffering than they let themselves realize. The 
impulses and desires of millions of individuals are finding 
expression. Innumerable transient particulars are drifting in 
the stream of tendency. We speak of " labor " as if it were 
a static thing, when often what we mean is a certain fierce- 



24 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

ness of some of the younger men, or a flicker of brief group- 
unity in aspiration or resentment. But in spite of all those 
separate particles of unique disposition, there is a common 
direction in their striving. Pushed on by the movement itself, 
they drift toward the sea, and already they are caught in 
the groundswell of the storm. 






CHAPTER III 

LABOR THE UNREADY 

The War caught British labor unprepared. It required three 
years for the workers to find themselves and begin to shape 
a policy. So it is with the coming of peace. The post-war 
world demanded a policy, and labor was unready. If there had 
been a determined program backed by 6,000,000 convinced 
workers (and their families) it would have won its way 
against the Government, Parliament, the middle class, and big 
and little business. 

And by a program I do not mean a political pamphlet, like 
Labor and the New Social Order, however brilliant and well- 
balanced. The authentic aims of labor were stated in that 
eloquent document, but they are clothed in the terms of 
political change and Government administration, and their 
appeal is to the political consciousness. Now the political 
consciousness of labor is undeveloped, because its political 
experience is slight. Instinctively it turns to industrial action, 
because its desires and impulses have long gone out along that 
track. 

A labor program would have carried the day, had three 
" if s " been granted. 

(1) If British labor had been united. 

(2) If the leaders had been agreed. 

(3) If the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union 
Congress were a central executive of trade-union govern- 
ment. 

Actually labor was in disarray, with war-weariness, chronic 
inertia, large conservative blocs, and little revolutionary cliques 
moving in various directions. 

Its leaders were at loggerheads on aim and method (from 
"more production" to "direct action"). 

25 



26 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

The Trades Union Congress is "an unorganized public 
meeting unable to formulate any consistent or practical 
policy," and its Parliamentary Committee represents very 
perfectly the inertia, the weariness, the conservatism of the 
membership. 

A year has gone since peace of-a-sort came to the British 
Isle. With the beginning of the year sectional strikes broke 
loose. The aim of the workers was to hold war wages with 
reduced hours. The miners went further and aimed at a 
slightly better standard of living than that of pre-war days. 
But so well tutored in misery and servility were all the work- 
ers of Britain that no industry asked for an average that 
should exceed $800 a year, and even these faint-hearted de- 
mands for a wage of from $600 to $800 a year were called 
revolutionary. And the same cries of ruin came from the 
owners of land and capital as had come from their God- 
fearing ancestors when it was proposed to remove tiny chil- 
dren and pregnant women from heavy work underground in 
the mines. 

Then followed the Coal Commission and the National 
Joint Industrial Conference; extra-Parliamentary extempo- 
rized devices to save the face of Parliamentary Government, 
when the power had moved. The Coal Commission was the 
tribunal before which the old order humbly appeared. The 
National Joint Industrial Conference was an affair of em- 
ployers and workers where the Government figured in the 
position of referee, second, and sponger-off. It mopped up 
the spilled, received blows, congratulated each side, and noted 
how many points had been scored. It finally announced " No 
decision," and another great expectation faded. Mr. Lloyd 
George appeared at that conference with all the irrelevance 
of a beautiful woman on a battlefield. 

England is slowly building new organs of government (both 
in legislation and administration) outside of Parliament. 
Political questions will still be handled at Westminster, but the 
economic life of the nation will largely function through 
trade unions, industrial councils, and shop committees. A 



LABOR THE UNREADY 27 

political Parliament is powerless to grapple with these eco- 
nomic questions, because it is not present where these vital 
forces are visibly active. What the Russians grabbed for 
too swiftly in Soviets and workers' committees, England is 
attaining step by step stumblingly in the Shop Stewards' 
Movement and shop and pit committees. It is control 
of industry by the producers (including, of course, foremen, 
managers, draughtsmen, directors, technical advisors). 

If by revolution is meant general economic paralysis or 
riot, the British worker does not wish revolution. If by revo- 
lution is meant the transfer of economic power from the 
middle class to the workers, — an organic change — that change 
is slowly, sectionally, painfully being made. And the worker 
does not mean to watch this process eventuate in the fullness 
of time, himself standing by as a casual spectator. He is 
determined to see the process fulfilled in this generation. He 
plays his part in bringing it to pass. He prefers settled order 
to wholesale experimentation, but he does not prefer settled 
order to piecemeal experimentation. 

The British are trying to include all the revolutionary 
aims at once: the conquest of power, the suppression of 
counter-revolution, and the smooth working of the new 
order. (And yet take them one step at a time.) Their method 
is the persuasion of the intellectuals, the winning over of 
the salariat, the splitting of the middle class, and the conse- 
quent inclusion of useful middle-class members in the Labor 
Movement. The upper class is negligible. It has never been 
sharply differentiated. There are few old families. Most are 
like Smithson, who to his amazement became Duke of Nor- 
thumberland. Those who have not been graduated from mid- 
dle-class groceries, tea, beer, and soap are a small group as 
compared with the community. 

The Government has been caught as unaware by peace 
as it was by the German Army pounding down on Paris in 
August, 1914. Its "schemes," and "approved sites," and 
" strongly worded circulars," are to the tidal rip of the mass- 
in-motion, as the British Naval Reserves that went to save 



28 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

Antwerp were to the Prussian legions and the 1 6-inch guns. 
I have seen both exhibitions. They are the twittering of 
sparrows in a thunderstorm. In the London Sunday Times 
for June 8th, Frederic C. Howe is quoted as saying : " Great 
Britain has not carried through a single one of the great 
ideas included in her reconstructive program." He is cor- 
rect. No houses. A few hundred soldiers settled on the 
land. The acquisition of land at landlords' prices. 

The " literature " of any of these subjects is voluminous, 
the schemes multitudinous. Of action there is little. Of 
determined policy, none. Everything is left to drift. It is 
the first two years of war over again. Then, there were the 
French to hold the pass, while England groped instinctively 
toward final resolute action. God has always granted Eng- 
land time to grope. He is a slow and constitutional worker 
Himself, using trial and error. The devil is a fiery revolu- 
tionary. Who will win? 

The owners of land and capital have made large conces- 
sions inside the old social structure. These will not suffice. 
Labor demands a radical change in the division of the prod- 
uct, and in the terms of ownership and management. Until 
this is granted, there will be increasing unrest, recurring 
strikes, and diminished production, leading ever nearer to 
national financial disaster. To save their country, the own- 
ers of land and capital must make a sacrifice comparable to 
that of the volunteer soldiers. The first signs of trouble 
were manifest last winter, and within three years they will 
begin to force the issue. I believe that the change will be made 
peaceably and constitutionally. I believe that the Coal Com- 
mission will be the precedent for reorganizing the great in- 
dustries. In short, Smillie (backed by the industrial pressure 
of the Triple Alliance) was an arbiter of event, and labor or- 
ganization is the instrument of the British constitutional social 
revolution. 

The change, now being wrought, will break into revolution 1 

1 The orthodox revolution of force, with paralysis, riot, and blood- 
shed. 



LABOR THE UNREADY 29 

if it is thwarted by the employers and the Government. But 
if the ruling class yield, the change will be made constitu- 
tionally. The leaders of labor wish to make the transition to 
the Socialist State, managed by the workers, without loss 
of life or loss of productive power. The first step only has 
been taken in this change. The far greater steps remain to be 
taken. The younger men wish to take them in the next two 
years. The older men, say, five, ten, fifteen years. 

The change, in any case, is being made within the frame- 
work of a huge debt, worn-out plant, a falling volume of pro- 
duction, fatigue, and bitterness. The sooner the workers 
share the knowledge and the responsibility of these menacing 
fundamental conditions the safer for the structure of society. 
The War has brutalized and embittered all relationships from 
family life to political procedure. Violence and immorality 
are temporarily embedded in the consciousness of some of the 
nation. So any wildness is possible, but I think bloodshed is 
improbable. I think the overwhelming force of the trade 
unions will awe the possessing classes into submission. The 
workers, once in power, will realize for the first time that, as 
the legacy of the War, they are faced with primary poverty 
for the next twenty years. No nationalization, nor workers' 
control, nor shop committee, can devise a machinery for escape 
from the iron law of diminished wealth, lessened productivity. 
But for the first time the workers will sit in at the banquet 
which now will be dead-sea fruit. 

The financial situation is the most serious of any since the 
years following 1815. The debt approaches £8,000,000,000. 
A daily expenditure of nearly £4,000,000 goes gaily on. Hours 
are decreased and wages increased on a falling market. Un- 
employment benefit was paid to half a million persons. Be- 
tween 10,000 and 20,000 rich persons are spending £50,000,000 
or more a year in luxury. 1 And all this orgy is being written 
off against future productivity. The Government postpones 
the day of liquidating the War by creating more debt. 

1 This is a pre-war estimate, and is probably to-day an under- 
estimate. 



30 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

Within three years, two things are inevitable : 

A capital levy. 

Hard work and greater production from all the community. 

But labor will not give its fullest effort until — 

The system of private profits is altered. 

Workers' share in control is granted. 

Full facts of industry are revealed by share in management. 

There is no use in beating the big drum of high production, 
as Professor Bowley and W. L. Hichens and the rest are 
doing, unless the division of the product of industry is organ- 
ized on a new basis. As long as the Dukes and Marquises 
take royalties from every ton of coal, and Lord Tredegar's 
" Golden Mile " of railway (3 double tracks, 1 mile long) 
pays him, taxes not deducted, £19,000 a year on an original 
outlay of £40,000, labor will not speed up to pay the interest 
on war debt. These facts from the Coal Commission are 
reverberating through the island. 

The temper of the returned soldier will be the determining 
factor in all this. The sacredness of life and property no 
longer deters him from an impatient rush to the thing he 
wants. 

Britain has the " Young Men in a Hurry " — the 10 to 25 per 
cent of the workers who demand a new social order without 
delay. She has the-not-more than 1,000 wild men (in all 
Britain) who would destroy the present order at a stroke by 
tying up industry, and would establish a dictatorship on the 
lines of Lenine. 

She has the 20 or 25 per cent of " Old Timers " — the older 
order of trade unionists, who desire gradual amelioration in- 
side the existing order. These men (Walter. Appleton, Have- 
lock Wilson, Sexton, Tillett, Seddon, Stanton, Roberts, Clem 
Edwards) rank much as Gompers does in America. 

In between these strata lie the 50 per cent of silent voters, 
with whom the final decision rests. Whether they move con- 



LABOR THE UNREADY 31 

stitutionally step by step, or instinctively in a swoop, will 
set the history of the next five years. 

The giants of the year have been Smillie, Hodges, Clynes, 
and Henderson. Clynes is the consummate voice of the elder 
labor statesmen. Hodges is the one young man of British 
labor expressing the aspiration of workers' control. Smillie 
is the rugged personality of the order of Lincoln, who by 
moral authority and human sympathy is the greatest figure in 
labor of this generation. Henderson is the adept, honest poli- 
tician who thunders common sense. He is less gifted than 
Clynes, but he has a policy. He is a battering ram of the 
center, where Clynes is a brake. 

The " private enterprise " type of young man is pretty sure 
to emigrate in these coming years to some one of the busi- 
ness republics. 

The socialized miner, railwayman, engineer, shipbuilder, 
cotton operative, will be the governing class of Britain- 
national service, good wages, workers' control. 

The rate of exchange will be determined between a business 
republic (Canada, United States) and the socialist state 1 of 
Great Britain; and the relative general level of well-being 
will then determine the number and quality of emigration. 

It is safe to predict that a million or more persons will in 
any case emigrate. But that is only the accumulation of the 
average rate (200,000 a year for five years of damming up). 

My trips to the North of England and to the Midlands 
have convinced me that the situation is more disturbing than 
Government officials realize. They receive their information 
from the old-line trade-union officials, and they sit in their 
barracks at Whitehall exchanging memoranda, writing de- 

1 The word " socialism " is used throughout this book in the British 
sense. It means a progressively changing social organism, where key 
industries pass one by one under public ownership, where public 
utilities are municipalized, with areas of industry under voluntary 
co-operation, and other areas in private hands, and with private prop- 
erty widely distributed. The British mind is neither syndicalist nor 
communistic. It will seek to preserve all that is useful in the old 
order, and is sure to preserve religiously much that is obsolete. 



32 CHAOS AND ASPIRATIONS 

tailed reports. They rarely talk with the militant leaders, 
with the rank and file, or with the returned soldiers. 

Thus, at Coventry, I heard George Morris, District Or- 
ganizer of the Workers' Union (350,000), say of a certain 
major, who was head of a jam manufactory: 

He received so much a head for sending the boys out to the 
front, and now I suppose he is buying back their dead bodies for 
his jam. 

The official and upper class tendency is to underestimate 
the volume of the currents now running. At present they are 
running under the surface. They are largely instinctive and 
subconscious. But with an obstacle to dam them, they would 
swirl up through the crust. They can still be canalized con- 
stitutionally. God is very good to the English, and he may 
give them a moratorium. 



SECTION TWO 
THE YEAR 

CHAPTER I 

THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 

The sessions were held in the House of Lords. The scene is 
a beautiful high chamber, of gold, blue, and red — the King's 
Robing Room — with scenes from the Round Table on the 
walls. Fronting each other in informal but dramatic way 
are the two systems of financial control (private enterprise 
and nationalization) and the two theories of management 
(autocratic and democratic). There are twelve commission- 
ers and a judge. Three commissioners are coal owners, three, 
miners, three are " impartial " representatives of allied great 
industries, three are " impartial " economists, representative 
of democratic ideas. Mr. Justice Sankey is of the new order 
of judge. He gives liberty to the witnesses to tell their story 
in their own way, and full scope to the commissioners for 
cross-examination. There are no restricted areas into which 
owners might pass with their profits discreetly cached or 
syndicalists with loose, destructive theories of minority con- 
trol. Sankey has a brisk suavity, with a delightful smile, 
and a firm will. He is a thorough gentleman, and in sweet 
and patient fashion rescues an unlettered and muddled witness 
and states the worker's case for him. He never employs 
his rich humor against simple persons, ignorant and sincere. 
But he shakes with judicially suppressed laughter when Sid- 
ney Webb goes to the mat with a protesting statistician. 
" Quite right, you are quite within your right in putting the 
question." When there was wrath at one witness, and the 
twelve commissioners raised their voices together, the justice, 
who is a large man, rose and in his blandest tone said, " Thank 

33 



34 THE YEAR 

you, gentlemen, thank you for all contributing at once." 
And when labor, in herd formation, trampled one famous 
expert to the flatness of his own shadow, Sankey subdivided 
for them the limits of their death-dealing function : " For 
questions of the industry, Mr. Smillie; statistical, Sir Leo; 
policy, Mr. Webb," said he. And he implied that treatment 
from one of them was enough for any particular authority 
who wandered into the witness chair, which itself began to 
take on the atmosphere of the electric chair at Sing Sing. 
I saw one owner, Mr. Thorneycroft, waiting his turn, eying 
it with a grizzled gloom. No such latitude of questioning 
has ever before been permitted in an official industrial inves- 
tigation. Here you had a miner cross-examining a million- 
aire employer, and driving him into a corner from which he 
did not escape. And an owner asking a miner, " What do 
you really want ? " 

Of the three miners, Robert Smillie will be dealt with in 
the next chapter. Herbert Smith is the vice-president of 
the Miners' Federation. Frank Hodges is the secretary; he 
is a brilliant young miner, associated with the Guild Social- 
ists and their ideas. He is clean-shaven, brown-eyed, lean, 
and forceful — a workingman with education, and touched 
with the hope of workers' control. To such a man, represen- 
tative of the youth of the labor movement, wages loom less 
largely than the vision of a spiritual freedom through widen- 
ing functioning. If Smillie is the greatest personality thrown 
up by the labor movement and the summation of a century 
of struggle, Hodges represents the promise of the coming 
generation, which will inherit the power. The Guild Social- 
ists of the miners, the industrial unionists of the railwaymen 
and transport workers (fed on the propaganda of the Labor 
College), and the shop stewards of the metal workers are 
some of the youth of the labor movement. Already cotton is 
beginning to stir to the same winds of doctrine. And when 
these five industries move, Britain alters its center of equi- 
librium. The young are about to be heard. 

Typical of the views of Mr. Hodges are the following : 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 35 

The miners have been excluded from management, although 
they offered a plan for increasing the output. I assure you that 
is the root of unrest. We have submitted hundreds of instances 
of mismanagement — ineffective clearance, want of trams. 

We have the changing ideas of one million men in relation to 
their industry — their wish to be taken into confidence, their wish 
for directive control. What alternate scheme do you suggest? 
Do you propose to cast that aspiration away? 

Of the three keen friends of labor at the table, "it is a 
work of supererogation" (as President Hadley says) to in- 
troduce Sidney Webb, the greatest mind in the Labor Move- 
ment. 

Sir Leo Chiozza Money was a Coalition Liberal in the 
last Parliament (he is now of the Labor Party). He was 
on the Blockade Committee, and the War Trade Advisory 
Committee, and associated with the Ministry of Munitions. 
Later he became Parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of 
Shipping. His writings are well known. His facile manipu- 
lation of statistics gives him the uncanny prestige of a Sher- 
lock Holmes. Sir Leo is a little Diabolo — of Genoese blood; 
his black eyebrows against the pallor of his face make tiny, 
incipient horns. He has darting eyes. He is efficient in every 
motion, selecting his pamphlet out of a pile, and turning the 
pages with his left hand, doing everything the one best way. 
He grows impatient with the muddle-headed witnesses, flicks 
his wrists, crosses his legs and drywashes his hands, irritably 
implying, " Is this the sad lot we have to deal with ? " A 
little man like a lightning bug. 

R. H. Tawney is fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, a pro- 
moter of the Workers' Educational Association, was director 
of the Ratan Tata Foundation of the University of London, 
is a writer of studies in economics. His hand is visible in the 
Report of the Committee on Adult Education and the Report 
of the Archbishop's Fifth Committee of Inquiry: on Chris- 
tianity and Industrial Problems. He is in the line of the 
long English tradition of the governing class — university 
training and established church affiliation. And, like many 



36 THE YEAR 

of the church and the twin universities, he has aimed the 
tradition at social change. A main drift of his thought is : 

An acquisitive society reverences the possession of wealth, as 
a functional society would honor, even in the person of the 
humblest and most laborious craftsman, the arts of creation. To 
recommend an increase in productivity as a solution of the indus- 
trial problem is like offering spectacles to a man with a broken 
leg, or trying to atone for putting a bad sixpence in the plate 
one Sunday by putting a bad shilling in it the next. As long as 
royalty owners extract royalties, and exceptionally productive 
mines pay 20 per cent to absentee shareholders, there is no valid 
answer to a demand for higher wages. For if the community pays 
anything at all to those who do not work, it can afford to pay 
more to those who do. A functional society would extinguish 
mercilessly those forms of property rights which yield income 
without service. There would be an end of the property rights 
in virtue of which the industries on which the welfare of whole 
populations depends are administered by the agents and for the 
profit of absentee shareholders. [The Hibbert Journal, April, 
1919.] 

Abounding in good humor, Tawney hazes each witness, 
and chortles with merriment when the gentleman, still smil- 
ing back, sinks in the bog. Thus, an owner testified that 
profits were needed in order to reward good management. 
" I know nothing of these things," said Tawney ; " I sup- 
posed that profits were paid to the capital invested. Tell 
me, do profits go to the manager ? " 

No one seeing this care-free, lovable young person would 
guess that two years ago he lay for thirty hours in No Man's 
Land, bleeding his life away. What saved him was the 
fact he had previously drunk his canteen of water, and, being 
parched, the blood so thickened as to form its own protective 
clot. When the statement is made of labor conferences, 
" These are graybeards and fathers in Israel ; where are the 
young and coming leaders ? " the answer would include 
Tawney and Hodges. 

The three members of the commission representing em- 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 37 

ployers generally are Arthur Balfour, Sir Arthur Duckham, 
and Sir Thomas Royden. The three coal owners are: J. T. 
Forgie, R. W. Cooper, and Evan Williams. 1 These three 
coal owners make, each in his own way, an impression of 
sincerity and staunch character, with human compassion. The 
inquiry reveals simply that they, like the miners, are caught 
in an obsolete organization, functioning creakily in this new 
century. On the fourteenth day of the inquiry, like the 
French nobles they died as gentlemen should, with Justice 
Sankey, of old-world courtesy, officiating at their last rites. 

One witness said, " I give my opinion without hesitation " ; 
but he had not yet crossed the zones of fire. To state it in 
terms made popular by a world war: The heavy emplace- 
ments were broken by the 1 6-inch gun of the miners' presi- 
dent. There was no brushing away the plump of those shells. 
Then followed the clean long-distance hits of the middle- 
calibered Hodges gun, carefully aimed, effective at any 
range. 

Herbert Smith wheels up about once every eight hours — a 
short, squat howitzer, which rumbles in heavy Yorkshire 
till it has cleared its throat, then drops a single fat charge, 
messing the whole landscape, and retires for the day still 
smoking and grunting. 

Sidney Webb is the machine-gun, shooting three sharp- 
nosed ones before the first has sunk into soft flesh — a rat-a- 
tat-tat which mows down everything in sight, with a bright, 
eager innocence. Smokeless and well-camouflaged, it seems 
to say, " I am only a little one, and I wouldn't hurt a 
fly." 

Tawney isn't a big gun at all. He is the song the sirens 
sang, that wooed ships to the rocks. He is the pied piper that 
leads astray. With rumpled hair and the boyish charm of 
Will Irwin, he lures the witnesses to a Peter Pan chase in 
the forest far away from their safe home — and " Now you 
are lost," he says. Then he smiles up at Sir Leo Money, 

1 Later, the places of Sir Thomas Royden and Mr. Forgie were 
taken by Sir Allan Smith and Sir Adam Nimmo. 



38 THE YEAR 

that lonely sniper in a tree who picks out the fat heads and 
cracks them. 

By the time the tired business man or tangled statistician 
has received the attentions of labor's Big Six, he is carried 
away on a stretcher while the half-dozen kindly non-combat- 
ant financiers, across the table, look distressed, and either 
Mr. Balfour or Mr. Cooper rushes forward, too late, with a 
bandage and a stimulant. They had not expected to attend 
a slaughter. Then Mr. Justice Sankey with the Olympian in- 
difference to the presence of death of a General Headquar- 
ters Staff, calls, " Next." 

The collapse of the coal owners' witnesses was best de- 
scribed by Mr. Alexander M. Thompson of the Daily Mail: 

First comes Mr. Smillie, who glares at the poor gentleman 
from under his shaggy eyebrows like a Yorkshire terrier looking 
for a nice fat part to get a bite at. There is Mr. Hodges, the 
terrier's young apprentice, who, whenever his turn comes round, 
gets his teeth in playfully but usefully. There is Mr. Herbert 
Smith, bluff and burly, bull-dog type, who does not intervene 
much, but, when he pounces, sticks. Next sits Mr. Webb, of the 
suave smile and velvety voice, a fox in lamb's clothing, who purrs 
on the witness till he has hypnotized his suspicions and then 
proceeds to snap bits out of him. 

Mr. Tawney has the public-school accent, and rumpled hair of 
the predestined Fabian, and he confuses the witness to the verge 
of distraction by running round and round him, as if looking for 
a chance to spring at the back of his calves. Finally there is 
Sir Leo Chiozza Money, black and white, sharp as a needle, with 
painfully visible teeth, who gets very angry and snarls most 
fearsomely. 

Altogether the wtiness has a nasty time. He begins usually 
with a very self-satisfied air — an air of " Fve-not-come-to-argue- 
Fm-telling-you." He oozes facile economic platitudes and looks 
round for applause. But he doesn't utter many words before he 
begins to sit up and metaphorically jump. Bit by bit he loses 
his sweet complacency and gets annoyed. Then the pack severely 
rebuke him, tell him not to lecture, and bait and badger him 
till he fidgets wrathfully and looks inclined to gibber. 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 39 

As one of the witnesses for the coal owners said: 

We haven't prepared any case. We have come prepared to 
answer your questions. 

And the past of these witnesses fluttered into the King's 
Robing Room like the forgotten wives of a bigamist. Thus 
Mr. Webb reminded one that he had once prophesied the 
ruin of the industry if an eight-hour act was passed, but 
that the output actually equaled under the act what he had 
said it would be without the act. 

Over all the conferences presides that spirit of keep-your- 
shirt-on which is a national characteristic. The authentic 
voice of Britain spoke when (with 800,000 men voting a 
strike) Sir Arthur Duckham queried, " Is there any real un- 
rest in the coal-fields or does friction exist only in this 
room ? " Just so I saw bored British officers adding up ac- 
count books in Ypres (on November 1, 1914, the " first bat- 
tle of Ypres ") when eight-inch shells were breaking in the 
city. 

The unrest that created the Coal Commission is buried deep 
in more than a century of suffering. It dates back to days 
when miners were slaves, bound to their pit for a lifetime. 
It passed on to the little children who spent their childhood 
in darkness at hard labor. It came through fiercely during 
the War. In the early months of the struggle, 300,000 miners 
volunteered with an eager patriotism. They volunteered in 
such numbers as to limit seriously the supply of coal. Then 
came the revulsion of feeling when some of their overlords 
conducted business as usual. It is well reported in the 
words of Vernon Hartshorn, miners' agent in South Wales, 
and member of the executive of the Miners' Federation of 
Great Britain. On November 2J, 1916, he wrote: 

Our experience of the desire of the coal owners to make undue 
profits at all costs while the nation has been at death grips with 
the enemy has resulted during the War in the feeling of the mass 
of the workmen towards the owners hardening into positive hatred 
and contempt. In normal times it will be as impossible for the 



40 THE YEAR 

miners and coal owners of the South Wales coal-fields to work 
together on the old lines as it will be for the Entente Powers 
ever to resume relations with Prussian militarism. 

With the War ended victoriously, with the least danger of 
injury to the export trade of the last two generations, the 
miners pressed their case for redress. So Mr. Lloyd George 
had Parliament set up this Coal Commission. 

Many commissions have come and gone, in a hundred 
years, with nothing left of their findings except fat bluebooks 
in the northwest aisle of the British Museum, where young 
Fabians come and browse. Several governments have turned 
hot agitation into tired minutes, and, smiling, put the ques- 
tion by. In fact, there has been no better device by which 
embarrassed cabinets could evade action and satisfy an 
angrily buzzing electorate than to call a royal commission, 
sitting for six months, with a gentle body of recommendations 
which come so long after the uproar that no one remembers 
that any commission has sat with the patience of a hen in 
the barn-loft. In this way has been built up the literature 
of the British social revolution. H. G. Wells' young friend, 
Frederick H. Keeling, who fell in France, found it " a great 
sensation . to feel the stream of British bluebooks flowing 
through one's brain." But the effects of the radical mind 
working through a royal commission, though far-reaching, 
were slow. What was immediately needed with a million 
miners about to strike was not a nugget of radicalism for 
Graham Wallas' next book, but a policy, swiftly enacted, for 
a basic industry. So these innovations were made: 

i. This commission was made statutory. "A royal com- 
mission would not answer the purpose," said Mr. Lloyd 
George; "it would not have the necessary powers. We have 
decided to have a statutory commission with authority of 
Parliament behind it, with the same power as now rests in a 
court of justice." 

2. Its findings on wages and hours become law, instead of 
(in the words of Bonar Law) " making reports which in 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 41 

ordinary circumstances might be put in the waste-paper basket. 
We are prepared to adopt the recommendations in the spirit 
as well as in the letter." x 

3. On other commissions, impartial persons had been se- 
lected from the governing class, men committed to " private 
enterprise. " Mr. Smillie insisted that equally impartial per- 
sons in equal numbers should be selected from groups whose 
economic theories were not based exclusively on the 1830 
school. In short, there is no such thing as an impartial per- 
son, therefore hold the balance even. 

4. The wide area of the terms of reference. In a study 
of the coal trade (in Tracts on Trade) made in 1830, the 
statement appeared: 

The coal owner receives twelve shillings and ninepence. This 
sum he receives to remunerate him for the labor and capital 
employed in winning the colliery, to insure him against the risk 
of the accidents attendant upon this hazardous trade (such as 
the vicissitudes of explosions and inundations). 

Such impertinent and extraneous questions as the effect of 
those expensive " explosions " on the lives of the miners have 
in this commission intruded into the conference. The trade is 
now regarded as " hazardous " for the miner as well as for 
the money. 

Those old-time commissioners used to be rebuked by wit- 
nesses, when the commissioners overstepped the terms in 
which a great landholder or industrial captain should be inter- 
rogated. Such matters as wages and the personal habits of 
workers were proper. But profits were not the concern of the 
community or the Government. For instance, in the Report 
of the Select Parliamentry Committee on Coal (1873) we 
read: 

Your committee have not entered into an examination of the 
profits of colliery proprietors since the rise in prices. 

1 Mr. Lloyd George rejected the findings of the Commission on na- 
tionalization. Almost the entire labor movement has pledged itself to 
"compel" the Government to enact those findings. 



42 THE YEAR 

But they accepted unsupported statements from coal own- 
ers of the miners feasting on champagne and making a 
pound a day. In that Parliamentary committee of 1873, the 
owner was asked, "If it is a fair question, what were your 
profits ? " The owner felt it was not a fair question and did 
not answer it. Those were days before the Webbs, the Ham- 
monds, Charles Booth, and Seebohm Rowntree had educated 
Britain. So we find the 1873 committee reporting: 

As no standard can be laid down to fulfil the conditions of 
health, social comfort, or moral existence, it must be left to the 
general feeling of the workmen, improved by education, to pre- 
scribe the proper limits for their labor. 

Never has so much of mere human stuff entered into the 
consideration of important officials as in this 19 19 Coal Com- 
mission. Bonar Law summed its work of the first fortnight 
as : "A bigger advance at one time by far towards improving 
the conditions of the men engaged in industry than has ever 
taken place." What is that advance? 

1. An Easter egg present of $35,000,000 in back pay. 

2. " Seven hours " of work underground. 

3. Six hours in 1921 " probably." (" Probably " is the 
official word in the report.) 

4. The distribution of an additional sum of $150,000,000 
as wages among the colliery workers (2 shillings a day). 

5. Voice in management. 

6. Condemnation of "the present system of ownership 
and working." 

7. Raises the standard of living, shortens the hours of 
work, and converts into responsible public servants 1,100,000 
men and youths employed in 3,300 mines (comprising with 
their families between four and five million persons — one- 
ninth of Great Britain). 

In 1913, the 1,100,000 miners received £82 a year (about 
$400). With the cost of living increased by 115 per cent, 
their wages have gone up to £169 a year, which was an in- 
crease of 106 per cent. To this £169 a year is now to be 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 43 

added about £27 a year, making £196 a year (about $650, 
at present exchange). A seven-hour day will mean that the 
men are underground, taking the average, 7 hours and 39 
minutes. Small wonder that the representative business men 
of the commission have ordered these improvements; $650 
is not extravagant pay for the father of a family. Seven 
and a half hours of some of the hardest and most dangerous 
work in the world is enough. What was the evidence that 
swung public opinion against " private enterprise " in 
mining? 

1. Royalties paid to the owners of the soil (who do not 
own the mines or work them) are $30,000,000 a year. A 
pure " property " tax at the expense of the miner and the con- 
suming public. Steadily it was emphasized that on every ton 
of coal, on every article of manufacture, " there was," in Mr. 
Webb's words, " a tribute due to property, exclusive of any 
service rendered to the article." 

2. Profits for 191 6 were $185,000,000. 

3. In June, 191 8, 2 shillings sixpence a ton added to the 
price of coal to lessen the loss to weaker collieries, thus en- 
hancing the profits of the prosperous collieries ; an instance of 
" economic rent." The coal controller tacked on this figure 
at a guess. Sir Arthur Lowes Dickinson, chartered account- 
ant, Government witness, in answer to Mr. Webb said, "If 
profits had been pooled it would not have been necessary to 
put prices up." 

4. The need for pooling of wagons. 

5. The need for the sinking of new shafts and improve- 
ment of old ones. 

6. A divisional inspector of mines said he " had been down 
into pits where the roads were very low and inconvenient, 
and he had told the managers they ought to have bigger roads 
and bigger tubs." But they usually said they " could not do 
it and make a profit." 

When asked if this implied that if they got greater produc- 
tivity, and the nation got more coal, they would get less 
profit, the witness replied it was so. 



44 THE YEAR 

Sir Richard Redmayne, chief inspector of mines, the head 
of the Production Department of the Control of Coal Mines, 
technical adviser to the controller of coal mines and chairman 
of the Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau, said : 

That the present system of individual ownership of collieries 
is extravagant and wasteful, whether viewed from the point of 
view of the coal-mine industry as a whole or from the national 
point of view, is, I think, generally accepted. This is a some- 
what daring statement, but I am prepared to stand by it. It 
conduces to cut-throat competition between owners selling coal, 
and is preventive of the purchase of materials necessary for the 
carrying on of the separate enterprises at prices favorable to the 
coal owners. Advantages which would result from collective pro- 
duction would be (a) enhanced production; (b) diminished cost 
of production; (c) prevention of waste. 

These advantages, he explained, would be due to the fol- 
lowing factors: 

(i) Prevention of competition, leading to better selling prices 
for exported coal being secured. 

(2) Control of freight. 

(3) Economy of administration by curtailment of managerial 
expenses. 

(4) Provision of capital, allowing of quicker and more expen- 
sive development of backward mines. 

(5) More advantageous purchase of materials. 

(6) Reduction of colliery consumption. This is very high in 
some mines. The average for the United Kingdom is 6 per cent, 
and the consumption altogether about 16 million tons. 

(7) More harmonious relations between the workmen and the 
operators, due to steadier work and adequate remuneration of 
workmen. 

(8) Obliteration to a great extent of vested interest and of mid- 
dlemen. From the collective production of essentials it is a very 
small step to collective distribution. This would hit hard at the 
middleman, who is a serious item in the cost to the consumer. 

(9) Unification of the best knowledge and skill, leading to 
greater interchange of ideas and comparison of methods. If good 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 45 

results were obtained at one mine and bad in another, these 
results would be open for all to benefit therefrom. 

He added that he had approached the whole question from 
these points of view — the greatest possible production of coal 
at the least possible cost with the greatest possible safety, the 
health of the workmen with the highest standard of life, and 
an increasing standard of life. It was a great mistake to sup- 
pose that a lower standard of efficiency followed a higher 
standard of comfort. Mr. Smillie then questioned Sir Rich- 
ard Redmayne : 

The miners love their children as much as other people? 

I have known cases of families, orphaned by mining explosions, 
whose children have been adopted by other miners who have for- 
gotten who were their own children and who were the adopted 
children. 

From your own experience in mining districts do you feel that 
the time has come when there ought to be a revolution in the 
housing of the working-class population, especially amongst 
miners ? 

As a house is, so is the individual ; as is the individual, so is the 
state. 

Have you in Scotland seen houses owned by mine-owners worse 
than anything you have ever seen in Durham or Northumber- 
land? 

I visited one village in particular in Scotland, and I have seen 
no houses in any part of the United Kingdom comparable in bad- 
ness to those particular houses. 

Take it from me that the average earnings of the adult mining 
population prior to the war were under 25s. a week. Is it pos- 
sible to raise a family in the state that it ought to be kept? 

It would be hard. 

Mr. Smillie remarked that a number of mine owners had 
assisted the Government during the War in various ways. 
He asked Sir Richard if he believed they had given as honest 
service to the Government as they gave to their own business. 

The witness answered yes. 



46 THE YEAR 

May I take it that if the nation take over the mines we might 
expect the same gentlemen to give the same service to the nation? 
I can only express the pious hope that they would. 

In answer to Frank Hodges (representing the miners), the 
witness said there were three alternatives to the present state 
of affairs. One was nationalization; another was ownership 
by the owners in combination; the third was ownership by 
owners and workmen. He dared say there was a fourth, 
which was known as syndicalism, and which meant owner- 
ship of the mines by the miners. 

Mr. Smillie, in a series of questions, submitted that thou- 
sands of lives had been sacrified before mine owners had 
been compelled to introduce life-saving machinery, such as 
winding controllers and apparatus for changing air currents. 

7. Accidents, John Robertson, chairman of the Scottish 
Union of Mine Workers, said, killed 55,000 persons in the 
mines in fifty years. In the last twenty years, 160,000 per- 
sons were injured each year, or a total of 3% millions. One 
in every seven is injured each year. " Mining is more deadly 
than war. The miner is always on active service. He is 
always in the trenches." 

8. Mr. Roberston gave as an instance of housing Hamilton, 
with a population of 38,000, of whom 27,000 lived in one- 
or two-room houses. Some of the miners live in some of the 
worst houses in Britain. With sincere feeling, Mr. Arthur 
Balfour said, "If the situation is as you describe, it must be 
put right." 

Mr. Forgie questioned a witness about the five-day s-a- week 
policy adopted by the Lanarkshire miners, and asked if the 
Lanarkshire mirier was not unpatriotic in so reducing his 
work. The witness repudiated the suggestion. 

He declared, " The Lanarkshire miner is not unpatriotic. 
He gave 14,000 men, at a bob a day, to fight the Germans. 
He considers that in working five days a week he has done 
his duty by the State, and people who complain of miners 
not working more ought to get their own coal out and have 
five days underground themselves." 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 47 

9. Better conditions increase production. In Durham 
there is the greatest profit in Great Britain, and in Durham 
there is a shorter working day than the present act of the 
miners proposes. It was alleged that brains and machinery 
could double the production. Low wages and long hours 
lessen production. 

10. The life of a miner. Vernon Hartshorn said: 

The miner never gets more than two hours a day of sun. Every 
movement he makes in his pit clothes leaves its mark. Twelve 
years I worked so. I would come home so tired that I lay down 
on the hearth-stone in front of the fire for hours. In the early 
morning, to be hauled out of bed was like going to the gallows. 
One man in seven is injured every year. I have seen six men 
go out from a little home in the morning, and the six, father, 
son-in-law, and four sons, brought back charred corpses at eve- 
ning. Men are blown to pieces. The miner can never ask for 
an armistice. The miners will no longer consent to be regarded 
as hands, to turn out profits for idle shareholders. They wish to 
be useful public servants. State ownership is inevitable. Unless 
the demand for state ownership is granted, syndicalism or bol- 
shevism will take the place. If this is not conceded at this time, 
a movement will be under way that will take another form than 
nationalization. If an increase in the standard of living cannot 
be obtained, the miners say, " We'll change jobs." 

In rebuttal, the coal owners submitted: 

1. There is a desire to ruin coal owners, and so create 
nationalization. 

2. Machinery exists for dealing with questions of dis- 
pute. 

3. Best management in the world in British coal mines. 

4. Success spread by private enterprise. 

5. Where will capital come from? 

6. Sterilize all the knowledge of the directors of collieries. 

7. Would give miners preponderant representation. Mr. 
Evan Williams said, " Do you think any Government would 
dare appoint any minister of mines without consulting Mr. 
Smillie?" 



48 THE YEAR 

8. The gigantic scale of collective bargaining was given 
as one of the causes of unrest. 

9. Kill the export trade. 

10. Put up the price of iron and steel. 

11. The good manager will say, "Why should I worry to 
keep my neighbor going ? " 

12. No poverty among the miners. 

13. Conditions for them are being improved. 

If this rebuttal seems meager to the reader, it is not so slim 
as the case of the coal owners appeared to a visitor at the in- 
quiry. The Daily News in a special article has expressed it 
thus: 

No one who attends its proceedings can help coming away with 
the impression that it is the mine-owners, and not the miners, 
whose case is on trial. So skilfully have Mr. Smillie and his 
colleagues managed the proceedings that they have become vir- 
tually a labor tribunal, before which the coal owners and mag- 
nates from other industries have to plead their cause. More than 
once, especially when Mr. Smillie or Mr. Webb has let himself 
go, I have been reminded of reports of the proceedings of revo- 
lutionary tribunals in France or in Russia. No wonder that one 
employer, at the end of a long cross-examination, remarked, " I 
am not at all happy." 

This atmosphere arises largely from the frankly challenging 
attitude which the miners' representatives are taking towards the 
existing industrial system as a whole — an attitude which is in- 
creasingly prevalent throughout the world of labor. Mr. Smillie 
confiscates mining royalties with a wave of the hand; they are, 
he says, " stolen property." To arguments about the danger to 
British trade of granting higher wages and shorter hours, the 
miners reply that the first necessity is that a reasonable standard 
of life and leisure should be secured to the miner. In short, if 
the present industrial system will not bear higher wages and 
shorter hours, they suggest, not low wages and long hours, but 
a change in the industrial system. This attitude clearly puzzles 
some of the employers' witnesses. They do not want, they ex- 
claim, to keep down wages, provided only that they can be 
assured that trade will not suffer. They cannot understand Mr. 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 49 

Smillie when he claims that the workers' demand for a reasonable 
standard of life takes precedence of the " rights of property." 
" But that is property," said one witness representing the iron and 
steel trades — and he said it with such an air of puzzled finality 
that there was nothing more to be said. 

Fighting desperately, but too late, the owning class pressed 
into the second session of the coal inquiry. The Commission 
ceased to be a laboratory for the collecting and classification 
of facts, and became the battleground of angry opinion. Econ- 
omists, statisticians, owners, Earls, Marquises, a Duke chal- 
lenged, pleaded, and defied. Frank Hodges, the miner, said 
to Harold Cox, the individualist, " Your philosophy wouldn't 
count much against the determination of a million men." 

All layers of society were probed — strata, imbedded in Eng- 
lish life since Henry VIII. England passed in review : classes 
and castes. One learned what they look like, how they talk, 
and what philosophy of possession cheers them. 

The first session dealt with advances in wages and a re- 
duction in hours. The second session dealt with the future 
organization and government of the industry. At the close 
of the second session, the chairman, Justice Sankey, declared 
for nationalization of the mines, with a form of joint control. 
Throughout both sessions, the capitalist system was on trial. 
It was condemned. 

The most dramatic, though the least important, witnesses 
were the noble lords — Durham, Dunraven, Dynevor, London- 
derry, Tredegar, Bute, Northumberland. It is easy to show 
why Smillie was right in summoning these lords. Their ex- 
amination was a farce. They were bored or surly. Questions 
on their titles were absurd. But the fact that they had to 
come when summoned by a miner was a moral victory. And 
the word of it ran through Britain. Smillie was the lord 
high executioner, the judge, the people's man, and in the name 
of the people had issued orders to the privileged class, which 
they unwillingly but humbly obeyed. 

What one felt in the examination was that Mr. Smillie was 
the gentleman, and that they were just a little caddish. His 



50 THE YEAR 

wider social experience, knowing the many lives of men, his 
gentleness of conscious power, his sense of equality, letting 
pass for a man even a millionaire parasite, all these enabled 
him to be scorned and patronized and outwitted without at all 
being defeated, or ceasing to be the head of the table. Smillie 
let them outplay him and wound him, because every blow they 
dealt him was aimed at the working class, and revealed their 
animus. So he was defeated by the lords in the King's Rob- 
ing Room, but won a victory over them in the nation. Their 
retorts to his simple questions were swift, skilful, at times 
witty, and scored a brief success with the immediate audience. 
But when those answers passed out into the larger audience 
of the nation, it was found that in winning the skirmish they 
had lost the War. Such a word was Tredegar's when he said 
that the military service of the soldiers did not entitle them 
to land. 

The Earl of Durham is gray-haired, with gray mustache 
and tight-packed lips; a tall, alert man. He owns the coal 
under 12,411 acres of land. He takes 5 pence a ton in royal- 
ties and a penny a ton for wayleave. 

Durham: No one has disputed my ownership. 

Smillie: We are disputing it now. I am trying to be as fair 
as possible, to examine without bitterness. We allege 
that no title deeds exist that justify your ownership. 
The State is the owner. 

So, one by one, entered and passed the representatives of 
ancient families: Lord Dynevor, scholarly, pale, shy, with 
spectacles, stone deaf in the right ear. Lord Dunraven, feeble, 
on a cane, white hair at sides, and bald top, white mustache, 
ruddy face. The Marquis of Londonderry, in khaki, with a 
long head, and a high forehead. 

Tredegar: [Lord Tredegar, over six feet tall, broad-shouldered, 
reserved, handsome, bald, smooth-shaven, lean — a quite 
royal person] : " I am rusty about titles because I have 
been four and a half years at war, and haven't gone 
into family history." 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 51 



Later: 



I don't see why service to the country entitles a man 
to land. 
Smillie: Landlords claim land because the King gave it for 
services rendered in war. We wish a more equitable 
division among those who served in this war. 

The Marquis of Bute, a small, dark man, like a Latin, with 
an abundant, lively mustache, shy, and attractive. He was 
told that he governed more coal than New Zealand. 

The Eighth Duke of Northumberland is a small, homely, 
freckled, sincere man. He has red hair, which makes a rusty 
leakage upon his neck, inset eyes, a red mustache. He is 
lean, hard-working, with a well-concealed but intense core 
of mysticism. His mysticism blends religion, royalty, prop- 
erty. 

" I shall do my utmost in the House of Lords to oppose 
nationalization," he said. " The Miners' Federation don't 
want nationalization of minerals. I think they want complete 
control of land and all industries." 

" I am out for taking over land," said Mr. Smillie. 

" This plea for nationalization," went on the Duke, " is only 
a step to something more drastic and revolutionary — the con- 
fiscation of land, and so on. I don't think it will stop at 
nationalization. Joint control isn't the thing." 

Sir Leo Chiozza Money asked the noble Duke : " What par- 
ticular service, as coal owner, do you perform ? " 

"As owner, no service." 

He further said : " I object to miners having the monopoly 
of coal." 

" Is it right for one man to have such a monopoly as you 
have?" 

" I think it an excellent thing." 

To the Duke of Hamilton's agent, Mr. Smillie said : " Just 
outside the wall of the Duke's palace on the west side are 
some of the most miserable homes in Great Britain. From the 
Hamilton estate, a large number of miners went to war from 



52 THE YEAR 

the collieries. This is their country in what sense? The 
Duke's royalties were defended by miners. Is it not his duty 
to watch out for miners' families ? " 

Ways and Means saw most clearly of any paper that every 
clever answer given by an Earl to Mr. Smillie was a 
coffin nail in private property, private enterprise, the profits 
system. Ways and Means is E. J. Benn's organ of concilia- 
tion, backed by enlightened employers. It said : 

Peer after peer has been made to confess that he is the owner 
of a fortune by reason of the foresight of an ancestor three 
or four hundred years ago. Lord Durham, for example, is draw- 
ing an income of a thousand a week out of ancient land, most 
of which was acquired by various means by his ancestors in a 
long past century. Lord Dunraven is a more interesting case. 
He is drawing an income from coal secured under common land; 
the surface appears to belong to the public and the mines to 
Lord Dunraven. 

Those like ourselves who are interested to preserve the basis 
of society and to save this country from the terrors of anarchy 
and syndicalism will do well to recognize that there is a good 
deal more behind the cross-examination of these dukes than the 
mere question of the future of our coal mines. Mr. Smillie, and 
more particularly Mr. Sidney Webb and Sir Leo Money, with 
whom he is acting, are engaged in the first serious round of an 
organized onslaught upon property of all kinds. These mineral 
rights, wayleaves, and other relics of mediaeval barbarism will be 
held up to the world as representative of property, and the case 
having been established for restoring to the public the property 
in the coal under common lands will, if great care is not taken, 
be skilfully twisted into the case for robbing the owners of other 
forms of property, such, for instance, as industrial capital. 

It therefore seems to us that the interests of industry are very 
definitely opposed to those of the present owners of land, and} 
the best way to preserve the rights of capital employed in useful 
industrial pursuits is to disown any association with dukes and 
landowners. 

Here in this second commission, we have God's plenty. Not 
only do all social classes come stumbling in and plead for lease 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 53 

of life, but all kinds of knowledge and opinion, the dogmas 
of the privileged, and the aspirations of the disinherited. 
Here for sheer competence of fact-knowledge, held in easy 
mastery and control, we have the incomparable two — Sidney 
Webb and Sir Richard Redmayne. For the delicate hesitations 
of the academic scientist, we have a group of economists, with 
opinions tentative, qualified, unready for a choice of action. 
Workers' control is debated by Hugh Bramwell, Sir Hugh 
Bell, Frank Hodges, Evan Williams, and William Straker. 
Lord Gainford states that the coal owners prefer nationaliza- 
tion to granting any executive control to the workers. Lord 
Haldane tells the need of educating a new type of public 
official — an administrator, who will find his expression in 
serving the community. Miners' wives testify to the condi- 
tions under which they live. 

On June 6th, with regard to the 112 witnesses who had 
been called on this particular part of the inquiry, the analysis 
of the classes of witnesses was as follows: 

Coal owners, exporters, merchants, and factors, fifteen wit- 
nesses ; 

Mine managers and surveyors, five witnesses; 

Miners and miners' wives, six witnesses; 

Consumers, on behalf of employers, seven witnesses; on 
behalf of the workers, three ; 

Scientific economists, twelve; 

Finance, three; 

Costing, two; 

State control and Civil Service, three; 

Safety and health, six; 

Mechanical and electrical improvements in mines, three; 

State ownership abroad, five ; 

And the most numerous class of witness listened to — the 
royalty owners, twenty-five. 

The balance making up the 112 are miscellaneous witnesses, 
who cannot be conveniently grouped in any particular 
class. 

The New Statesman (June 28, 1919) said : 



54 THE YEAR 

What at present distinguishes the mining industry from most 
of these other cases is not that it is more inefficient, but simply 
and solely that the miners are strongly enough organised and 
determined enough to make the continuance of the present system 
impossible. As fast as the workers in other vital industries take 
up the same attitude as the miners, and are strong enough to do 
so with effect, national ownership is bound to follow as a neces- 
sary consequence, and Sir John Sankey, or his successors on 
future commissions, will be bound to recommend national owner- 
ship as the only way out of the impasse resulting from private 
capitalist control. 

But the wisest word on the Coal Commission is that of Mr. 
Justice Sankey in his final report: 

A great change in outlook has come over the workers in the 
coalfields, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to carry on 
the industry on the old accustomed lines. The relationship be- 
tween the masters and workers in most of the coalfields in the 
United Kingdom is, unfortunately, of such a character that it 
seems impossible to better it under the present system of owner- 
ship. Many of the workers think they are working for the 
capitalist, and a strike becomes a contest between labor and capi- 
tal. This is much less likely to apply with the State as owner, 
and there is fair reason to expect that the relationship between 
labor and the community will be an improvement upon the rela- 
tionship between labor and capital in the coalfields. 

Half a century of education has produced in the workers in 
the coalfields far more than a desire for the material advantages 
of higher wages and shorter hours. They have now, in many 
cases and to an ever-increasing extent, a higher ambition of 
taking their due share and interest in the direction of the industry 
to the success of which they, too, are contributing. 

The attitude of the colliery owners is well expressed by Lord 
Gainford, who, speaking on their behalf as a witness before the 
Commission, stated : " I am authorized to say on behalf of the 
Mining Association that if owners are not to be left complete 
executive control they will decline to accept the responsibility of 
carrying on the industry, and, though they regard nationalization 
as disastrous to the country, they feel they would in such event 
be driven to the only alternative — nationalization on fair terms." 



THE BRITISH COAL COMMISSION 55 

It is true that in the minds of many men there is a fear that 
State ownership may stifle incentive, but to-day we are faced in 
the coalfields with increasing industrial unrest and a constant 
strife between modern labor and modern capital. 

I think that the danger to be apprehended from the certainty 
of the continuance of this strife in the coal-mining industry out- 
weighs the danger arising from the problematical fear of the 
risk of the loss of incentive. 



CHAPTER II 

ROBERT SMILLIE 

The Coal Commission was Robert Smillie. He created it. 
His miners nominated four of the twelve members and had 
the " refusal " or acceptance on approval of two more. It 
was Smillie who demanded that the first findings should be- 
come law (instead of being gently shelved, as has been the 
way with royal commissions for a century). It was he who 
made sure that the questions discussed would include profits. 
It was he who held the witnesses fronting the costs and gains 
of the industry in terms of the human welfare of the 
miners. 

What can a statistician say when he is asked, " Is it right? " 
And what becomes of a coal owner who has his profits ex- 
posed in one moment, and, in the next, the tuberculous one- 
and two-room homes in which he houses his workers? The 
inquiry was outrageous and unfair. What chance had a man 
who had never been questioned as to his profits, and the ab- 
sentee incomes of his stock-holding friends — who had dwelt 
in the secure and favoring play of upper-class conditions, 
where intimate details are not discussed between gentlemen — 
against representatives of the miners whose houses have been 
visited by welfare committees, whose budgets have been scru- 
tinized by expert accountants, whose wives have been taught 
thrift by the resident Duchess? What fair spirit of sport 
was it to pit an owner who confessed he could not keep order 
and good-will among a few hundred of his " hands," against a 
man who had organized 800,000 two-fisted fighting men into 
an unbreakable brotherhood, a man who inside of three weeks 
can change an overwhelming strike vote into a greater major- 
ity for industrial peace? In future inquiries, it will be de- 
sirable in the interests of fair play that the captains of in- 

56 



ROBERT SMILLIE 57 

dustry shall put forward representatives who are measurable 
to the labor leaders. 

Sir Daniel Macaulay Stevenson, ex-chairman Scottish Coal 
Exporters' Association, chairman of the Committee for the Sup- 
ply of Coal to France and Italy, member of the Controller of 
Coal Mines Consultative Committee, and head of the firm of 
Messrs. D. M. Stevenson and Company, was called: 

Smillie: I suppose you will agree with me that about 80 per 
cent of the colliery houses in Lanarkshire owned by 
the mine owners are not fit to live in and ought to 
be destroyed. 

Witness: I have not seen them lately, but they were a disgrace 
to any country. 

Smillie: Then they are worse now if you have not seen them 
lately. 

Witness: I did wonder whether any new ones had been put up. 

Smillie: No. No new ones have been put up. If any new 
houses are put up, unless there is some government 
subsidy, they will be out of the reach of the miner 
with a small family. Would you tell us as a social 
reformer in what way you are going to improve the 
conditions of our people if it is not by giving higher 
wages and shorter hours. That is our method. What 
is it you propose? 

Witness appealed to the chairman on the ground that 
the question was hardly fair. 

Smillie: But you endeavor to get this commission to report 
against the miners on the ground that it would kill 
the export trade. 

Said the Times: 

There will be no difference of opinion among dispassionate 
readers on one point, which is that of the three parties concerned 
the miners come out far the best. Their case was better pre- 
sented, but it was also a better case than that of the Government 
or the mine owners. We do not say that the miners' demands 
are justified in full, but the coal controller's department and the 
mine owners cut a sorry figure. 



58 THE YEAR 

Ways and Means, E. J. Benn's organ for enlightened em- 
ployers, said: 

Any one who takes the trouble to read the case of the miners 
as explained by Mr. Smillie to the prime minister must agree 
that there is no answer to it. It is, of course, possible to argue 
that sudden changes in wages cause dislocation and have effects 
far wider than those who ask for them probably understand, but 
that, after all, is only the argument of expediency and does not 
affect the bare justice of the case. Mr. Smillie shows that the 
miner, upon whom the whole of industry depends, has hitherto 
lived a life of great hardship on a poverty wage, and he is not 
prepared to continue on those terms. It is as well that these 
root facts should be recognized and that it should be generally 
understood that very radical changes must be made. To this 
extent we are all with the miners. 

It is important that the American reader should get Smillie 
into his mind, because the knowledge will make present hap- 
penings and the events of the next five years intelligible. 
Robert Smillie is the spear-head of the British labor move- 
ment. Let me briefly introduce him in picture-postcard 
fashion : 

Public Life 

1. Has helped to build up the strongest industrial union in the 
world (800,000 miners). 

2. Was head of it. 

3. Was head of the strongest industrial combination yet made, 
one and a half million men of the miners, railwaymen, and 
transport workers — the Triple Alliance. 

4. Is the most powerful labor leader in Great Britain. 

5. Has been three times offered a governmental position. 

6. Member of the statutory government Coal Commission, 
whose findings became law. 

7. Forced the government to appoint half the members subject 
to the miners' approval. 

8. Obtained for his miners the largest single wage increase 
in amount ever granted in Europe. 

9. Ended the system of private ownership of minerals in 
Great Britain. 



ROBERT SMILLIE 59 

Personal Life 

i. Was born in Ulster, 63 years ago. 

2. Came to Scotland as a lad and has lived there ever since. 

3. Began work in a shipyard on the Clyde at the age of fourteen. 

4. Became a collier at sixteen years. 

5. Supported a family of six in the year 1888 on 16 sh. 6d. a 
week. 

6. Is a Socialist. 

7. Can not be bought by money, or place, or flattery. 

8. Has great prestige to-day in Britain, but will destroy it 
to-morrow if he sees an uncompromising unpopular course to 
steer which he believes will bring a democratic gain. 

9. Has taken part in many commissions of inquiry into serious 
mining accidents — fires, explosions, floodings. Has gone into 
many pits for examinations. 

10. Takes his relaxation with an old pipe and a game of 
billiards. 

11. Has seven sons — two of whom went into the army, two 
were conscientious objectors, three worked in the mines. One is 
now a shop steward. 

Speaking for the old order, Viscount Esher writes a book, 
After the War, and addresses it to Robert Smillie (instead 
of to the public) because "he represents and leads the most 
advanced sections of the Labor Party." He says : 

I have not the honor to know you, but here in Scotland they 
say you are an honest and good man. Your aims I assume to 
be pure. You have enjoyed the experience of intelligent par- 
ticipation in improving the lot of your fellow-workers. You see 
before you, stretching into immeasurable space, a new prospect 
for those upon whom the labor of the world has fallen heavily. 
Your sense of duty impels you to take a lead in bringing into 
relation your considered opinion and the law of the land. You 
Wish, perhaps in arbitrary fashion, to supply the driving force 
that is required to bring about political and social change, that 
you believe to be beneficent. I do not share your faith in 
democracy as a form of government. But we agree in love of 
our country and fidelity to the men of our race. For their sake, 
use your influence, to bid your friends and associates pause at 



60 THE YEAR 

the threshold of these undetermined issues, and to make sure 
before sweeping away any institution deeply rooted in historic soil 
that it is in truth an obstacle. 

And later, Esher added : " An eminent authority expressed 
surprise that the prefatory note should have been addressed 
to a person of whom he had never heard. He has heard of 
him now. I selected Mr. Smillie as being, so far as I could 
judge, the leader of the new democracy into whose hands the 
supreme control of the destinies of our country was about to 
fall. I see no reason to change my opinion." 

Speaking for the Liberals, the Nation said: 

There are only two personalities in the British trade-union 
movement to-day round which legend grows and flourishes. One 
is Mr. J. H. Thomas; but Mr. Thomas suffers as a legendary 
figure from making too many speeches for much of him to remain 
unknown. He is a personality, beyond a doubt; but his force 
depends upon constant expression. He is a powerful speaker, and 
an extraordinarily able manager of men; but no one, except 
perhaps Mr. Garvin, could think of him as a "hero." Robert 
Smillie counts as the biggest man in the labor movement by 
virtue of just that touch of the " heroic " which Mr. Thomas 
lacks. He speaks, and speaks well; but his silences count for 
more than his speech. He has the power of making his presence 
felt, and exerting his influence, often without doing or saying 
anything at all. He can do this, not only because, where he does 
speak, it is usually to the point, but also because his personality 
can be felt as soon as the man himself is present. 

What manner of man is this leader of the miners who, holding 
no official position outside his own federation, has become the 
real leader of the industrial labor movement in this country? 
He is a Scotchman, and he still lives, on the mere occasions 
when he is able to be at home, in a small mining town of 
Lanarkshire. 

He approaches all problems first as a miner, and seems as if 
he widened his view to take in other things by a conscious effort. 
That effort, however, he almost always successfully makes. Other- 
wise he could not feel or retain his commanding position not 
only among the miners but in the whole trade-union world. He 



ROBERT SMILLIE 61 

belongs, of course, to the " left wing/' quite apart from any 
question arising out of the War. He has been, from the beginning, 
a Socialist, and has played his part in labor politics without los- 
ing his grip of industrial affairs or his close touch with the 
rank and file of the trade-union movement. He is not loved 
by the old school of trade-union leaders, because his conception 
of trade unionism is essentially active and constructive, whereas 
they often desire nothing better than to continue in the old rut. 
He is thus a man of ideals as well as a patient worker for their 
accomplishment. 

Those observers who knew only of his newspaper reputation 
have been surprised at his skill and alacrity in cross-examination 
on the Coal Commission. He has, no doubt, consciously used his 
chance for purposes of public propaganda. But, in addition, he 
has shown an amazing power of asking pertinent and searching 
questions of every witness. This is no novel development. He 
has long ago built up a great reputation by his work on other 
commissions of inquiry, especially commissions on great mining 
disasters such as the Senghenydd inquiry a few years before the 
War. He has an excellent technical knowledge of mining and 
mining law, reinforced by the lessons of a long personal expe- 
rience. His mind is orderly and logical, and he can be relied on 
not to lose his clearness of head, no matter how difficult the 
matter in hand. He knows his job thoroughly, and he never allows 
his propagandist zeal to get the better of his cautious judgment. 

He is growing old, of course; and often he gives the impres- 
sion of being ill and tired. For years he has been constantly 
overworked endeavoring to deal at once with the affairs of the 
Scottish miners in Lanarkshire and with those of the Miners' 
Federation in London. Now he will be fixed permanently in 
London, and his vigor and power of work should be largely in- 
creased. His absences in Scotland have always prevented him 
from taking the place in the administration of the labor move- 
ment nationally which belongs to him by virtue of influence and 
personality. In the future he will probably play a much bigger 
part, not only in the affairs of the miners, but in those of labor 
as a whole. That he is needed no one can well doubt — the labor 
movement requires above everything the force of a personality 
strong enough to co-ordinate its isolated groups and infuse it with 
a clear vision and a common policy. 



62 THE YEAR 

The Observer in a special article says, " One of the great- 
est barristers of the time has said that Robert Smillie's cross- 
examinations have been brilliant." Speaking for the landed 
Tories, the Morning Post says, " Unquestionably the two most 
powerful figures on the Coal Commission are the chairman, 
Mr. Justice Sankey, and Mr. Smillie, the dour, sour, and 
moody, but very able leader of the miners." 

Benjamin Talbot, of the National Federation of Iron and Steel 
Manufacturers, is on the stand: Mr. Smillie elicited from the 
witness that the wages of the iron and steel trade were largely 
regulated by a sliding scale, and that since the outbreak of war 
wages had been increased ioo per cent, while the working hours 
were now being reduced from twelve to eight. 

Smillie : Did you ever hear of the wonderful phrase " scien- 
tific management " in America ? 
Talbot : Yes. 

" Scientific management " means the largest possible 
output at the smallest possible cost? 

Cost per ton. 

The smallest possible cost means the smallest wages 
to the worker? 

No, they get higher wages in America. 

It requires four tons of coal to produce a ton of steel. 
Can you tell me what the royalty on coal is? 

Sixpence per ton. 

So that the idle class gets 2sh. out of every ton of 
steel manufactured. Have you any idea of asking that 
that burden should be taken off? 

That is property. 

Oh, yes, property is sacred, but life is not sacred. You 
are anxious to prevent miners from having shorter 
hours and higher wages, because it will ruin the coun- 
try, while the idle class, who have never been down 
a mine to produce coal at all, and have never seen a 
mine, are getting 2sh. for every ton of steel produced. 
Is that not a burden on the steel manufacturer? 

Yes, but I say it is their property. You cannot con- 
fiscate it. 



ROBERT SMILLIE 63 

Well, it is stolen property. 

That is a matter of argument. 

Which is the more humane: the abolition of royalties 
or the granting of better conditions to miners? 

The humane part, of course, would be the miners. 

I do not say for a moment that the workers in the 
iron and steel trade are too well paid, but is it fair to 
come here and say that your own workers' wages have 
been increased by ioo per cent and their hours reduced 
one-third, and then oppose any claim so far as the 
miners are concerned? Is that altogether fair? Are 
you happy in coming here? 

I am not happy at all. 

You are representing a very large number of share- 
holders, directors, and people of that kind? 

Not many directors, but two or three times as many 
shareholders as workmen. 

Do you know if any of them have an income of less 
than £500 a year? 

I cannot tell. 

Are there any of them who have an income of £20,000 
a year? 

I do not know. 

Do you know anything at all about them? 

I do not know their private affairs. 

Do you think it fair to keep practically in starvation 
and housed worse than swine people that you admire? 

I hope it is not starvation, Mr. Smillie. 

It has been in the past. 

It is with amusement that the trade-union world reads of 
this " discovery "of their leader. They have known for ten 
years that they had a representative who could match the 
leaders of any group. And the discovery matters not at all 
to Bob Smillie, who walks unrecognized to his day's work 
down Southampton Row, buys matches of the paralyzed sol- 
dier in front of the Imperial Hotel, smokes his aged pipe, and 
listens to what the other man tells him. He is still the simple 
miner, though president of the federation of the " God Al- 



64 THE YEAR 

mighty Miners " — the roughest, strongest, merriest of the 
workers of Britain, who take their pleasures fiercely, not 
seeing much of the sun. He has given a new set to the labor 
movement of Britain. He converted his miners to nationali- 
zation, preached workers' control, and yet steered them clear 
of the syndicalist myth. He won the eight-hour day for them, 
has just won the seven-hour day, and by 1921 will have for 
them the six-hour day. He is a hater of war who can silence 
a mob, and who is believed in by the largest following any 
labor leader has yet had. 
The Herald says : 

You see these things as Smillie sees them, quick and vivid, 
and anger rises in your throat at the horror of perils unaverted 
and the shame of reward unpaid. When he speaks it is as if 
the inarticulate millions spoke through him. He insists not on 
the profit or loss of high wages but on the shame of not paying 
them; not on the wisdom or unwisdom of good conditions but 
on the crime of not conceding them. He does not argue — he 
states, and each statement stabs like a sword-point. He asks no 
mercy and shows none. I think his eyes have always before 
them the sordid lives and heartbreaking labor of those men in* 
the dark underground who breathe the fetid air in which horses 
may not live and men must. 

I have been told by those who have followed him around 
in the lodge meetings how a hush falls on the group when he 
comes in; the little mark of respect of strong men for the 
greatest leader of their time. The rank and file has had two 
recent opportunities to register its opinion of Smillie. One 
was in electing a full-time president; Smillie's majority was 
overwhelming. The other was in electing representatives for 
the Royal Coal Commission, men who should determine the 
policy and future of the industry; Smillie and two men in 
sympathy with his ideas were chosen. On recent figures, " Bob 
wishes it" gives a vote of 75 to 90 per cent in favor; "Bob 
will not like it" totals 90 per cent against. 

The Weekly Dispatch says: 



ROBERT SMILLIE 65 

In his dress and general appearance Smillie is plain to the verge 
of shabbiness. In an old gray suit, a heavy top-coat and light 
felt hat, he presents anything but an uncommon figure. It is only 
on looking closely into his face that one realizes the great char- 
acter behind the grim, set face. It is no secret that when public 
control of the mines takes place Smillie will have a leading part 
in whatever executive is established. 

The head of 300,000 transport workers, Robert Williams, 
writes, " The one man who can above all others inspire us 
with confidence and therefore direct the storm is Smillie — 
the man with the proletarian instinct." 

The " unofficial rank and file " movement, which has torn 
the engineering trades into temporary disarray, helped to sup- 
ply driving force to the Miners' Federation because their 
chief was not an isolated official but a humble-minded member 
of the movement, who keeps in step with the young genera- 
tion. 

A writer in Ways and Means (June 14, 1919) says: 

The feature which commands the homage paid to him is his 
class temperament and the enduring fealty which springs from 
it. He has not merely sympathy with the proletariat; he has 
fellow feeling. He can be trusted implicitly; he is constitutionally 
incapable of defection. 

There is one trait in Smillie which the workman most reveres. 
He has attained to high distinction, has become a power in the 
land, and still he lives in the little house in Larkhall which was 
his home in the days when he was an obscure working miner. 
It is a neat wee house, now his own property, built for about 
£70 many decades ago by a building society, its original two rooms 
multiplied by extensions to four as the family — after the fashion 
of miners' families — increased to seven or eight children. The 
house stands in the village street, a clean respectable " row," but 
unmistakably a " row." Here Smillie may still be met of a week- 
end, playing the homely host to his multitude of local friends. 
He signalizes his escape from the Robing Room atmosphere by 
discarding cigarettes and briars for the plebeian clay pipe, and 
assumes the garb proper to the miner seated at his own fireside 



66 THE YEAR 

at the close of his day's work — the old pair of trousers and vest 
with the shirt sleeves rolled-up. 

He is the canniest negotiator on conciliation boards whom 
the owners have to face. He can outpoint them on knowledge 
of the industry, and he has an instinct for knowing when to 
yield and when to hit hard. His alone of the thirty-three 
great unions of Britain kept its workers clear of the Treasury 
Agreement of March, 191 5, when Lloyd George induced the 
labor leaders to sign away their power. Again he struck 
hard in the name of the Triple Alliance when the Government 
was going to introduce coolie labor. He warned Mr. Asquith, 
and the cheap labor did not come. With the same skill he 
accepted the decisions of the Coal Commission and held the 
miners from striking. 

His instinct as a trade unionist is greater than his instinct 
as a politician. His judgment in politics lacks the long ex- 
perience of his industrial life. So he sometimes takes extreme 
positions which offend the middle-of-the-way Briton. His at- 
titude on the War would have wrecked another public man 
in Great Britain but it did not lose him one follower. 

He has a curious modesty; perhaps it is timidity. He does 
not like to enter new activities ; he likes to move in the areas 
of his proved competence. Thus, he has in time past refused 
election to the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union 
Congress. And yet he could have made that body into a fight- 
ing force, instead of letting it continue year after year a 
respectable, powerful, useful, but slow-moving group. Mr. 
Smillie said to me, " Some of the trade-union leaders have 
thought their function is that of brakeman, to lessen the speed 
of the movement. But I think that the leaders job is that 
of stoker, to bring fire and driving power." 

He has a native gift of simple English that rises to " rugged 
eloquence," as the Daily Mail says. When he protested 
against the blockade because it was starving German children, 
I heard him say, " It was a disgrace for Germany to kill by 
hellish machines of war our women and children. It is a 
disgrace for us now to starve the babies of Germany. All 



ROBERT SMILLIE 67 

children are our children. Yea, and I think of the aged peo- 
ple; the rank and file who are like ourselves." When Smillie 
forced Lloyd George to act, he said, " The mine owners say, 
1 We invested our money in those mines and they are ours/ I 
say we invest our lives in those mines. . . . We say the 
miner's time should start when his risk starts. . . . When 
we are burning coal, either in the domestic grate or for steam- 
raising or for any other purpose, we are really burning the 
lives of men. As the old song ' Caller Herrin ' says, * Ca' 
them lives o' men ' — because of the risk in getting it." 

Burns and Scott, Dickens and Shakespeare, have been his 
reading. He knew Keir Hardie, and has felt his influence 
through many years. Smillie is a Socialist of the " left," a 
member of the Independent Labor Party, an untiring preacher 
of the new economics. Thus, " I found," he commented, 
" that we were cutting coal at 10 pence a ton while a certain 
Duke was drawing a shilling a ton royalty, and making 
£210,000 a year out of it. It occurred to me there must be 
something wrong. ..." 

When a witness at the coal inquiry spoke of the high cost of 
building a ship being due in large part to wages, and there- 
fore that the immense profits to shipowners were justified, 
Mr. Smillie pointed out, " But the wage-earner receives only 
one chance, and the profits of the ship continue to come." 
Said a dapper witness, a city man, " Oh, the Miners' Federa- 
tion and the miners are not the same," and said it with a 
giggle and a smirk to the side. " The Miners' Federation 
are the miners," said Smillie, looking straight at the man. 
He squirmed, blushed, and went silent. One does not contra- 
dict a natural forcj. 

Mr. Smillie leans over the table and watches a witness 
testifying to the conditions in which miners work and live, 
seeing his own past days. Particularly as he listened to 
Vernon Hartshorn and to John Robertson (of the Miners' 
Executive), he seemed to glow till he was incandescent. He 
gathers himself slowly, his voice husky as he opens his cross- 
examination, then booming at its height, but always with a 
refrain in it of sad and bitter experience : something ominous, 



68 THE YEAR 

and yet something tender, in the tone. He is tall and gaunt. 
His frame is stooped from threescore years of struggle. 
There is an overhanging quality to him — in his position at 
the table, in his shoulders, his nose, his eyebrows. His face 
is seamed from early hardship, with a line down the forehead, 
and the nose, strong and large, slightly aslant. His is the 
saddest face I have ever seen, but it is rugged. No one is 
awkward who has no self-consciousness, and there is a 
rhythm of natural motion to him in every gesture and as he 
walks. After the first day, no one doubted who was head of 
the Coal Commission. The pity of it is that he isn*t twenty 
years younger; great power has come to him when he is old 
and is indifferent to it. 

The whole personality is full of suffering, and the voice 
has a cadence of wist fulness, but the man is set in granite, 
with a fighter's jaw. He talks to premiers as man to man, 
and no mob has yet howled him down. He is the voice of 
a million and a half men, and he will be heard. When he is 
talking quietly along with you, he suddenly sinks into a 
silence. And then in a moment he will come up to the sur- 
face out of that deep still pool in which he lives his real life. 
When I see him, I think of that line of Carlyle's about the 
inner life of the old warrior king, "a great, motionless, in- 
terior lake of sorrow, sadder than any tears or complainings." 

To the miners, Smillie is a symbol of their dark life un- 
derground, and of their climb to the sunlight and to power. 
" Bob will not like it," says a miner at a lodge meeting, and 
the proposal is squelched. There was a meeting where a 
famous labor leader was making an attack on the miners, 
because the leader's union had lent money, as yet unpaid, to 
the miners. Smillie rose from the balcony over the speaker's 
head, walked to the balcony rail, and said, " What the miners 
owe, the miners will pay." It was as effective for the flam- 
boyant orator and the audience as, " I bring you peace with 
honor." The moral authority of Lincoln or Mazzini was not 
in the words spoken or the acts achieved. It rested in the 
deeper and unconscious being below the threshold. So it is 
not possible to chart the slowly gathering force of Robert 



ROBERT SMILLIE 69 

Smillie, which, day by day, asserts itself increasingly over 
keen minds like the leaders of industry and the Government 
experts at the Coal Commission. It has taken him sixty years 
to burn his way with a slow fire into the consciousness of 
Great Britain. The moral authority can be very simply ex- 
plained. He speaks from a deeper level of being than other 
men. He was fortunate in being born a man of the common 
people, who would understand him and follow him. He is 
misunderstood by the " general public," which wishes a facile 
opportunism. Speaking of tragic things (of 1,200 deaths a 
year in the mines, of 150,000 accidents) he troubles our 
lighter moods. But to those that know him by shared ex- 
perience, his leadership is unshakable. Keir Hardie had the 
quality of making large masses of men follow his lead be- 
cause he believed in men, and Keir Hardie is dead. Of the 
living labor leaders of England, Smillie is most like him. 
The future is nearer in Britain than elsewhere. It is just 
over the horizon line. I heard Smillie say to a labor group, 
" I am hopeful, aged as I am, to see a free electorate. With 
us are all the best of the thinkers of the country." This 
sense of a coming emancipation is strong in him. He believes 
he is leading men in the last charge of all. And with that is 
the knowledge that he cannot be touched. The day is gone 
forever when a champion of democracy can be jailed or si- 
lenced. Smillie is like Debs in his fierceness for justice, his 
forthright speech. But he lives in Britain, not in America. 
Some millions of men would rise if hands were laid on him. 
As they say in Scotland, " The heather would blaze," and out 
of Scotland and Wales, Durham, Northumberland, and the 
3,000 mines, a fire would come that would not die down. He 
carries always this sense of the multitude that backs him and 
the promised land just ahead. 

Toward the end of March, 1920, the cable brings word 
that Smillie has resigned from the presidency of the Miners. 
But, living, he can not remove his personality and influence 
from the movement. And not even death would undo his 
work, nor utterly quench the forces released by his prevail- 
ing will. 



CHAPTER III 

THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 

FEBRUARY 28, 1919 



Yesterday the peace parliament of employers and workers 
convened by the British Government met in the Central Hall. 
Five hundred workers were present and three hundred em- 
ployers. The workers represented general workers, the 
Triple Alliance of miners, transport workers and railway 
men, the engineering trades, shipbuilding, cotton, and also 
those trades which have been gathered in under the Whitley 
council scheme. Of the Whitley councils Sir Robert Home, 
the new Minister of Labor, said, " The great positive reform 
to which one looks with the most hope for the prevention of 
industrial disputes in the future is the scheme which Mr. 
Whitley's committee submitted to the country not long 
ago. There can be no question at all that the whole move- 
ment of modern life is in favor of the workmen being al- 
lowed some share in the control of industry in future." But 
it was noticeable at this parliament of producers that the 
Triple Alliance brought in its own separate proposals, and 
that the Amalgamated Society of Engineers refused to be 
bound by any action taken at this conference. 

The Whitley councils, in other words, while they have al- 
ready been set up in twenty-six organized trades and are 
about to spread out over twenty-four more, so that already 
they are covering the working activities of two and a half 
million persons, have nevertheless failed to prevail in the 
storm centers of the industrial world. They have not taken 
hold of the miners, railway men, shipbuilders, engineers, and 

70 



NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 71 

cotton spinners and weavers. Conciliation has only been ac- 
cepted as the necessary climate of these next months in those 
smaller occupations which are not the pivotal industries of 
Great Britain. 

The conference may be the result of a suggestion which 
Mr. Clynes has been pushing ardently in recent weeks for 
what he calls an industrial council — a council of all the trades 
employers and unionists. It will be seen that this gathering 
together of all producers in industry amounts to a super- 
Whitley council. We have the shop committee, the works 
committee, the district council, the joint • standing national 
council in the given industry which has come in under the 
Whitley scheme, and now finally we have this collection of 
all the trades which have come in under that scheme. Thus 
gradually some sort of organization is being attempted in the 
industrial arena, comparable to the organization of the State 
for matters political. 

The resolution passed by the conference reads : 

That this conference, being of opinion that any preventable dis- 
location of industry is always to be deplored, and in the present 
critical period of reconstruction may be disastrous to the interests 
of the nation, and thinking that every effort should be made to 
remove legitimate grievances and promote harmony and good will, 
resolves to appoint a joint committee, consisting of an equal num- 
ber of employers and workers, men and women, together with a 
chairman appointed by the government, to consider and report to 
a further meeting of the conference on the causes of the present 
unrest and the steps necessary to safeguard and promote the inter- 
ests of employers, workpeople, and the state, and especially to con- 
sider (i) questions relating to hours, wages, and general condi- 
tions of employment; (2) unemployment and its prevention; and 
(3) the best method of promoting co-operation between capital 
and labor. 

As industry draws nearer to organization and a constitu- 
tion, it is interesting to see its constituent parts. Those in- 
vited to yesterday's meeting were: 



72 THE YEAR 

(i) All Joint Industrial Councils. These bodies, which are 
created in pursuance of the Whitley scheme, are established only 
in industries in which both the employers and the workpeople are 
well organized in their respective associations, and they consist of 
equal numbers of representatives of associations of employers and 
trade unions. They cover 26 industries. 

(2) All Interim Reconstruction Committees. These com- 
mittees have been formed in industries where, owing to various 
reasons, progress towards the formation of joint industrial coun- 
cils has been slow. They also consist of equal numbers of repre- 
sentatives of associations of employers and trade unions, and they 
cover 35 trades. 

(3) All Trade Boards. These are composed of representatives 
of the employers and workpeople, with several nominees of the 
minister of labor. Their primary function is the fixing of legal 
minimum rates of wages, but they also deal with industrial condi- 
tions generally. They number 13. 

(4) The Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union 
Congress. This represents more than 4,000,000 members of British 
trade unions. 

(5) The Parliamentary Committee of the Scottish Trades 
Union Congress. This represents about 250,000 members of Scot- 
tish trades councils, Scottish sections of British trade unions, and 
trade unions with a wholly Scottish membership. 

(6) The General Federation of Trade Unions. This repre- 
sents about 800,000 members of trade unions federated mainly for 
financial purposes. Most of the unions are also affiliated to the 
Trades Union Congress. 

(7) The National Alliance of Employers and Employed. 
A body formed at the end of 1916 to promote co-operation of em- 
ployers and employed for the welfare of the workers and the 
efficiency of industries. 

(8) The Federation of British Industries. This organiza- 
tion comprises over 800 individual manufacturing firms and about 
170 trade organizations, representing over 16,000 firms in many 
trades. It was formed since the outbreak of the war to promote 
the interests of the manufacturing industry, and it is allied with 
the British Empire Producers' Organization, the British Imperial 
Council of Commerce, and the British Manufacturers' Corpora- 
tion. 



NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 73 

(9) Employers' Federations and Trade Unions Covering the 
Following Trades: Coal-mining, iron and steel, engineering and 
shipbuilding and ship-repairing, cotton, boot and shoe, railways, 
docks, and other transport, printing, explosives, lace, tinplate, heat- 
ing and domestic engineers, and general workers and women 
workers. 

Among the eight hundred delegates it was impossible to 
discriminate between workers and employers, except for 
" Bob " Williams in a class-conscious flannel shirt and muffler. 
Sir Allan Smith, president of the Engineering and Employ- 
ers' Federation, might have been taken by a visitor from 
Mars for a pale, intense, sincere Clyde revolutionary. And 
the traveler from New Zealand would have selected Thomas, 
Brownlie, and Stuart-Bunning as millionaire proprietors, 
shrewd, far-seeing, conscious of power. 

Yesterday, just across the street from the Central Hall, 
Princess Pat was being married. A large crowd was outside 
the Abbey as the delegates emerged from the grim debate; 
and Princess Pat appeared, a princess no longer, having 
stooped to a union with the second son of a Scottish earl 
instead of mating with the son of a royal house. It was the 
final gesture of royalty, coinciding with the advent of the 
workers to a share in power. 

11 

The first half of this chapter is left with the date line and 
the text as it was then written. So, a truer picture (moving 
picture) of changing events is given. The conference was 
born in hope. An excellent report was issued by the sub- 
committee. It will be found in the Appendix. And a strong 
statement was made by the trade-union half. This also will 
be found in the Appendix. But of results the summer saw 
none. Labor began to suspect that the conference, like the 
Coal Commission, was one more of Mr. George's flashing 
improvisations — a way of getting rid of difficulty by post- 
ponement. 



74 THE YEAR 

In October the trade-union side of the Provisional Joint 
Industrial Committee issued this statement: 

Apart from the proposal to form the National Industrial Coun- 
cil, the most important of the recommendations unanimously- 
agreed to by the employers and Trade Unionists were those deal- 
ing with hours of labor. It was agreed that a Bill should be 
introduced, laying down a maximum 48 hours' week, with provi- 
sions under strict safeguards for variation of the hours in either 
direction, and that this Bill should " apply generally to all em- 
ployed persons." This recommendation, together with others, was 
unanimously accepted by the Second Industrial Conference, which 
met on April 4th. 

The whole time between April and now has been spent in a 
vain endeavor to get the Government to accept these joint pro- 
posals. The main difficulty has arisen in connection with the 
Government's desire to exclude altogether from the Hours Bill 
certain classes of workers, of whom the most important are agri- 
cultural workers, seamen, and supervisory workers. 

Apparently this Industrial Council is to fade. But indus- 
try immediately and imperatively needs some sort of func- 
tional representation. The Parliamentary Committee of the 
Trades Union Congress is too feeble a body. 

A careful Government study of the Whitley councils, as 
now operating, will be found in the Appendix. It will be seen 
that they are serving a purpose in establishing wages and 
hours. "A case — a very real case — can be made out for 
them in the matter of wages and hours," said J. J. Mallon 
(in November, 1919). 

But they have not functioned in "workers' control" to 
any such extent as the creators of them hoped. 1 Such per- 
sons as Mallon, J. A. Hobson, and F. S. Button fashioned 
them to be a training ground in responsible administration of 
working conditions, the processes of production, " discipline 
and management," the allocation of raw material. Instead of 

1 The Builders' Parliament has been the finest flower of the Whitleys 
as well as one of the roots from which they sprang. The Builders' 
Report will be found in the Appendix. 



NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 75 

expanding in these directions, the councils have tended to 
concentrate on wages and hours. They have been tardy in 
forming District Councils and Workshop Committees. In 
certain instances, they have left all the stiffer work to the old 
Conciliation Boards, and have regarded their own function 
as a sort of welfare committee. In other instances, such as 
the Woollen Board, the vital questions have been handled by 
a group outside the Whitley council in which the workers 
were a minority and steadily voted down. In other instances 
(such as the Packing Case Makers and the Bakers) one 
side or the other has — at least, temporarily — withdrawn. 

For all that, sections of labor have found a redress in 
Whitleys which they never knew before. The fair-minded 
student will give them at least two years more of experimen- 
tation, before ruling them out as impotent. They are now 
serving as slightly improved Conciliation Boards. 

If the Whitleys survive, they will demand an all-inclusive 
body, to tie together their activities. They will demand some 
such body as this half -realized Industrial Council. 

Harold Laski (in Chapter I, Section 7, of Authority in 
the Modern State) writes: 

Provision must be made for some central authority not less 
representative of production as a whole than the state would 
represent consumption. There is postulated therein two bodies 
similar in character to a national legislature. 

The extremist view is always of value in shapening the 
issue. Mr. Tom Mann, secretary of the Amalgamated So- 
ciety of Engineers, was quoted in the Daily Express of No- 
vember 14, 1919: 

I do not want to attack Parliament. It is too silly a game. 
When we have in our own hands what we want, Parliament, so 
far as I am concerned, will be welcome to go on dealing with 
what is left over. Do not forget that we are 90 per cent of the 
crowd, and when we get going Parliament will be left high and dry. 

My type of man does not expect to see any parliamentary insti- 



16 THE YEAR 



tution improved. I am in agreement with those who contend that 
Parliaments, as we have known them, have served their purpose 

Present-day evolutionary developments in industry demand at 
least the supersession of the existing sectional trade unions, and 
the recognition of the fact that for concerted action to be really 
effective the whole field of a given industry must be the area on 
which action must be taken. 

Our power, when it is obtained, would be primarily one of 
organization, and in many instances that would manifest itself 
at the discussion table, and the manifestation would suffice. If 
not, organization by industry implies a co-relation of all such in- 
dustrial organizations with a common understanding among all 
workers in the country. 

I am not anticipating anything in the nature of a big crash. 
There would not be much chance for any alternative policy by the 
time our organization was complete. 

National Industrial Council, the Whitleys, the Parliamen- 
tary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, are all part 
of the one problem: How shall the forces of production — 
the trade unions as they become all-inclusive of the workers 
— function through a central authority? 

Industry has been a lawless affair in Great Britain. The 
trade unions have grown in power until they include in their 
ranks over 60 per cent of all wage-earning men. Keeping 
step by step with this growth in numbers has come an in- 
creasing consciousness of power. It is the power of pro- 
ducers. But unfortunately the modern State has only worked 
out its machinery for the representation of consumers. As 
a result the worker has had to act lawlessly outside the 
channels of government. Thus, the bankers and business men 
have formed their local Soviets, known as Chambers of Com- 
merce, and through them have brought pressure to bear on 
Parliament. Similarly, when Mr. Robert Smillie, representing 
the Federation of Miners, numbering 800,000, wanted to get 
something done he did not go to his parliamentary represen- 
tative. He went and called on the Prime Minister and got 
it done. 






NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 77 

The employers had become as anarchistic as their employees 
and many of them were speaking of the business or factory 
"as my business, my factory." These employers had gotten 
the idea that both the worker and his work were a com- 
modity to be bought and sold in the open market. They 
failed also to realize that the product when finished by the 
factory did not actually belong either to the so-called owner 
nor yet to the workers, but that it is the product of the 
community, on which the first charges to be levied are those 
for the labor spent in its creation, both of hand and brain. 

The year 1913 and the first half of 1914 saw these two 
lawless forces of employer and employed marching up ever 
closer to a battle which would have tied up England, would 
have destroyed the power of production and lessened the na- 
tional income. Then came the War, and with it a great wave 
of patriotic feeling on the part of the workers. So keen 
were they to help that they signed away the rights and pro- 
tections which it had taken them a hundred years of struggle 
to create. The employers were able to temper their own 
patriotism with a due measure of self-regard and obtain the 
right to an increased profit of 20 per cent over the piping 
days of peace. The workers responded to this class con- 
sciousness on the part of the great owners with the Shop 
Stewards' movement and the ever-growing demands for 
workers' control. 

As Frank Hodges, secretary of the miners, says: 

A careful and far-seeing statesman would foresee the whole of 
the possible developments along these lines for the next ten or 
fifteen years; and he would make provision for creating institu- 
tions which would give a natural outlet to these desires. So 
keenly is this aspiration feared by the employing classes that they 
would willingly declare an armistice in this fight. They have, in 
fact, offered an armistice in certain industries, and they propose 
a remedy which will give the workmen some outlet for their de- 
sires. They come forward with the proposition of Whitley Coun- 
cils, co-partnership, profit-sharing. A thousand and one schemes 
are afoot which purport to give the workers some form of con- 



78 THE YEAR 

trol, but which, upon careful analysis, only make them more 
amenable and more useful in the prolongation of the capitalist 
system. There can never be any equality, there can never be har- 
mony (whilst we do not quarrel with individuals), there can never 
be any real brotherhood existing between those who buy our 
labor and those who have to sell. 

But the institutions have not yet been created. 



CHAPTER IV 

YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP.— THE LABOR PARTY 
CONFERENCE AT SOUTHPORT 

[Historically, diplomacy has been the last phase of civil 
government to yield to democratic control. With the rise of 
social and economic, no less than dynastic and military, factors 
in international relations, we are witnessing a shift through- 
out Europe to what President Wilson called the " counsels of 
common men." Since the days when a group of British 
textile operatives sent their message to Abraham Lincoln 
that they were with the North on the slavery issue, what- 
ever the effect of the blockade and the stand of the British 
cotton trade, British labor has groped towards some part in 
foreign policy. At the close of June, at Southport, the British 
Labor Party broke the precedents of twenty years in the po- 
litical labor movement in England, and called on the trade 
unions to prepare to bring direct action (strikes) to bear on 
a political issue. That issue was one of foreign affairs — 
self-determination in Russia. What direct action on the 
British plan means — as distinct from revolutionary strikes on 
the Continent — is interpreted in these dramatic debates on 
nationalization of the mines (political interference with a 
primary industry) and Russian intervention (industrial inter- 
ference in political policy). They registered a new stage in 
the relations of the political and industrial arms of the British 
labor movement.] 



The first annual conference of the British Labor Party since 
the armistice has built its program for the coming year. 
The conference moved decisively to the left, but it is a left of 

79 



80 THE YEAR 

the British brand. British labor is not a revolutionary mi- 
nority European sect; it is a great organized group that ex- 
pects to take over the Government within a few years. It 
made its fighting issues: 

1. To nationalize the mines (as the first step in the na- 
tionalization of all the great public utilities). 

2. To end intervention in Russia, by direct action (of the 
British brand). 

This conference was held at Southport — that summer city 
on the western coast — on June 25-27. The conference moved 
to the left because Smillie and Hodges moved it (stated in 
terms of personality). Or, stated in terms of economic power, 
it moved to the left because the Triple Alliance drove it 
Smillie has given the lead to labor, politically and industrially, 
by his victories in the Coal Commission. And only second to 
him is the brilliant, moderate young miner, Frank Hodges, 
who in a speech of five minutes spitted Ben Tillett, the old 
dockers' leader, who preceded him, and overthrew John 
Robert Clynes, former food controller, who followed him. 
Hodges pleaded for direct action (of the British brand) on 
Russia, and carried the convention by a majority of 958,000 
votes. Henderson, through a cold, had lost about three- 
quarters of his voice, which reduced his volume of tone to 
that of other delegates. And with the passing of his cast-iron 
bass, he seemed to have lost a little of his alertness and 
strategic intuition. He and the others of the Labor Party 
Executive were ill-advised in not immediately accepting the 
Hodges statement as party policy. The vote rolled over them 
as it rolled over the right. And now they must accept it. 
There is an accent to victorious youth that ought to be recog- 
nized at the first hearing. The young are not in the saddle, 
but their foot is on the stirrup. 

A year ago, in a time of division that split the middle-class 
parties, Clynes, Henderson, and Thomas represented the heal- 
ing and concessionary elements which made labor cohere. 
This year Cramp (with his 450,000 railwaymen), Smillie and 
Hodges (of the miners) were the forward-pushing leaders 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 81 

behind whom two million out of the three million men repre- 
sented took up the new lines. 

When the conference turned to such issues as conscription, 
Russia, the blockade, the peace treaty, it became clear that so 
far as the British workers are concerned the War is over. 
The old wounds dealt and received by " jingo " and " pacifist," 
" knock-out-blow " and " negotiation " are healing. Indeed 
that was evident before, at the annual meeting of the trans- 
port workers, when the scarred warrior, Ben Tillett, made a 
brave speech calling off his feud against the German people. 
And the Labor Party now gave great applause to Ramsay 
MacDonald, for the best speech he has made in five years, 
when he urged a real league of nations and the acceptance of 
Germany within it, and the cure for hate, and the healing of 
the nations. Only one dissentient to an anti-blockade resolu- 
tion among nearly a thousand delegates was heard — the 
staunch and famous leader of the dockers, James Sexton. 
But the conference refused to listen to him, and he subsided 
into that grim humor which carries him through these piping 
days of peace when he is left stranded on the extreme right — 
the last of the Die-Hards and Bitter-Endians. 

Then, in the true English tradition, to balance all that 
thrust and dynamic, the delegates elected, at the head of the 
poll for the Executive Committee, Sidney Webb, sane, con- 
stitutional, who works to have the social revolution come as 
gently as a change of clothes. 

The British Labor Party has added a half million to its 
paid membership and now numbers 3,013,129. The trade 
unions send 2,960,409. There are 389 trade councils and 
local labor parties, and 4 Socialist societies. The member- 
ship of the Socialist societies is 52,720; but of that member- 
ship 80 per cent is trade union. Ben Tillett estimates the 
trade-union membership of the British Labor Party to be 99 
per cent of the total membership. In 191 4 the membership 
was 1,612,147. In the four years of war, the party, instead 
of splitting like the Liberals, has almost doubled its member- 
ship. At the recent general election it polled a vote of 2,244,- 



82 THE YEAR 

945. Its earlier election vote was 505,690. W. H. Hutchin- 
son, of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, was elected 
chairman of the party for the coming year. He has a well- 
balanced trade-union record for a generation. 

Ramsay MacDonald received forty-six separate nomina- 
tions, and was unanimously re-elected treasurer. Arthur 
Henderson remains secretary, the leader of the party. The 
elements of right, center, and left are so blended in the Ex- 
ecutive Committee, 1 that all one can say is that it is represen- 
tative of the entire labor movement. 

The European right has been waiting for the lead from 
British labor to quash the Eastern left that takes its inspira- 
tion from Lenine. And the Italian and French left have been 
waiting for a strike lead from, the British left. Neither side 
got satisfaction. British labor agreed to join Italian and 
French labor in holding demonstrations against Russian inter- 
vention on July 20 and 21. That is the British substitute. 
" Demonstrations " meant orderly meetings on Sunday and 
Monday, as a constitutional release for wrath. 

On the last day of the conference, a loud-lunged group of 
ex-soldiers in the gallery bellowed the proceedings to a stand- 
still till they received the promise that their friend, Bob 
Williams, should address them on pensions and wages. The 
episode is one of many hundreds that reveal the state of mind 
of a type of returned soldier. He demands immediate 
changes. To get them he will resort to direct action. The 
War has imbedded violence in his consciousness. This is a 
dangerous element in the State; it will require all the tact 
and the fundamental sanity of the labor leaders to canalize 
this unruly force. During the War it could be aimed against 
the enemy; now it is being aimed against institutions, con- 
ventions, and persons. In private life, it has taken expres- 
sion in crimes in so large a number of cases that one police 
commissioner has issued a public warning. Williams is at 

1 The women members are Dr. Ethel Bentham, Mary Macarthur, 
Mrs. Philip Snowden, and Susan Lawrence (a member of the London 
County Council). 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 83 

this moment busy on a program with the Ministry of Labor 
to meet the demands of discharged disabled soldiers. It is 
interesting that the Government has to call on labor leaders of 
the left to save constitutional government from grave dis- 
turbance. 

Labor's vote for direct action on Russia means a series of 
steps through the Labor Party Executive, Parliamentary Com- 
mittee of the Trades Union Congress, delegate meeting of the 
Triple Alliance, the Trades Union Congress itself, and, 
finally, through the rank and file vote of each union. Labor 
is well aware that minority action could hold up the business 
of any government. But the Labor Party does not wish to 
be scuttled later by its own mutineers. So as it draws near 
to its day of power, it quits thumbing its nose at authority, 
and calculates the distant effect of its present action. 

Such is a summary of the conference. There was nothing 
wild. But there was profound feeling concerning Russia, a 
feeling which, should the Government disregard it and con- 
tinue to send supplies to the anti-Bolshevik generals and 
admirals, will (not immediately but ultimately) lead to sec- 
tional strikes. There was a " feeling " that a general election 
will come fairly soon, and that the miners have supplied a 
fighting electoral issue in " nationalization." There was a 
demand for radical leadership, as expressed in the greeting to 
such men as Cramp, Smillie, Hodges, and Williams. It is in 
the main the trade unionists who are heading the swing to 
the left, and not alone the political Socialists (as in the past). 

But underneath this shift one feels the caution of the British 
temperament. At least one-quarter of the leaders are of the 
old wages-and-hours type, to whom swift change is distressing. 
In addition, there is that immense mass of silent voters who go 
only as fast as they are convinced. The result will be no 
sudden political overturn. . Election by election the workers 
will continue to gain seats, till one day the half-way mark is 
crossed and the balance of political power has passed to them. 



84 THE YEAR 

ii 

The nineteenth annual conference of the British Labor 
Party gathered in the Palladium Theater — a "palace of 
varieties " — a large modern building with a red-glowing in- 
terior, which seated delegates on the main floor, and over five 
hundred visitors in the gallery. The last half hour before the 
leaders arrived, carpenters and electricians were tinkering 
with the press tables. A local musician sat at the great organ 
and filled the building with his music from the Offenbach 
Barcarole and from Italian opera, submerging us in deep 
chords. As the delegates gathered, one was impressed by the 
success of the movement. It is a long stride from the day 
when labor met in the gloom of the Lambeth Baths. The 
free gift of the Palladium was one instance, the presence of 
Southport's mayor in full blue regalia another. 

J. McGurk, of the Miners' Federation, sought as chair- 
man to set the keynote by his address, which, like a king's 
speech, is supposed to be a composite of the responsible beliefs 
of the full Executive Committee. McGurk is a square, burly, 
witty Irishman. He would shine in a mass meeting or a 
small rough-house group; but the present area was slightly 
beyond his range. He attempted to harmonize differences, 
but his address rather served to reveal the temper of the 
conference on Russia, conscription, and direct action. He 
said: 

We all deplore the Bolshevist excesses. We all decried the 
czarist excesses, but the British government did not assist the 
1905 revolution by sending men, munitions, and materials to those 
who were fighting the battle of democracy against autocracy, 
... So long as this policy of intervention in Russia is pursued, 
there can be no question of disarmament, and the alleged need 
for retaining conscription in this country will remain. If the 
government counts on being able to bluff the workers indefinitely 
on these lines, it will be sadly disillusioned. I do not say this 
by way of a threat; it is a simple and common statement of fact: 
the workers of Great Britain will not have conscription, and we 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 85 

shall resort to every legitimate means to bring about its with- 
drawal. 

In the reception of this passage, it was plain that the chair- 
man was playing on a live nerve of the majority present. The 
feeling deepened as he went on: 

A movement is already afoot to employ the strike weapon for 
political purposes. This would be an innovation in this country 
which few responsible leaders would welcome. . . . We are 
either constitutionalists or we are not constitutionalists. If we 
are constitutionalists, if we believe in the efficacy of the political 
weapon (and we do, or why do we have a labor party), then it 
is both unwise and undemocratic because we fail to get a majority 
at the polls to turn round and demand that we should substitute 
industrial action. ... It appears to me to be less likely that 
they will be ready to give their adhesion to industrial action to 
enforce political demands and ideas. It would therefore be a 
misfortune if the movement were to be torn asunder by efforts 
to force the adoption of the strike policy for political aims. 

It was clear from the buzz of comment and interruption 
that the delegates were determined to deal with Russia and 
direct action. Their repressed feelings began to come through. 
The liveliness started when the report of the Executive Com- 
mittee was read. A paragraph told of sending a telegram of 
welcome to President Wilson. A delegate of the (anti-war) 
British Socialist Party, William McLaine, protested. He 
said: 

President Wilson is the commercial traveler for American capi- 
talism. It is necessary for him to speak as if he were an idealist, 
and thus to be used by the Allied imperialists to obtain labor 
support in their own countries. The old phrases of annexation 
would not have availed. In America, in President Wilson's own 
country, Socialists and labor men are in prison, such men as 
Eugene Debs and Victor Berger. Let President Wilson speak 
when his house is in order. Labor will do well when it relies 
on itself instead of on President Wilson. He came into the Wa^r 



86 THE YEAR 

when American capital was committed and ready to come. His 
policy is opposed to that of the working-class. 

Arthur Henderson here intervened with his note of au- 
thority : 

I hope that this debate will not be pursued. When we sent the 
telegram, we were then hopeful that President Wilson would 
translate his ideals into terms of the treaty. We sent it in the 
trust that his ideals might be realized much nearer than they are. 

It was only a minority of the delegates who were so mis- 
taken as to believe that Mr. Wilson had acted with hypocrisy. 
The large majority dismissed the matter in the sympathetic 
silence given to a well-meaning man who had been outplayed 
by stronger men. And Henderson's requiem closed the inci- 
dent. Wilson will not again figure in the deliberations of 
British labor. No delegate in all the hall applauded his name. 
A sense of disillusionment in him and in the peace is wide- 
spread among advanced workers. The same kindliness that 
covers the Antwerp and the Gallipoli expeditions will surround 
the sleep of the Fourteen Points. One lasting result the 
American President has wrought — he has altered the vocabu- 
lary of idealism. At this labor conference, phrases about 
" open covenants " and " democracy made safe " were scrupu- 
lously avoided, and the aspirations of the workers were put 
into pedestrian and realistic words, with the emphasis on ap- 
plications rather than on general principles. Ideology of 
language has now been relinquished to the imperialists. 

One issue became clear. Should British labor use direct 
action, industrial pressure, the strike, to pull the troops out of 
Russia? If so, should the Labor Party say so? Or should it 
be left to the Trades Union Congress ? Should a political ques- 
tion be settled by the industrial weapon? This is an old and 
familiar doctrine, but the application of it to the Labor Party 
is new to British experience. The Executive Committee, in its 
report, took the ground that if the " British labor movement 
is to institute a new precedent in our industrial history by 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 87 

initiating a general strike for the purpose of achieving not 
industrial but political objects, it is imperative that the trade 
unions, whose members are to fulfil the obligations implied 
in the new policy and whose finances it is presumed are to 
be involved, should realize the responsibilities such a strike 
movement would entail and should themselves determine the 
plan of any such new campaign." 

Robert Williams rose from his place as member of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee of the Labor Party. He is the secretary 
of nearly 400,000 transport workers, who are sailors, dockers, 
riverside workers, ship loaders, and vehicular workers. He is 
a giant of a man, over six feet, in the prime of manhood, with 
large features — big mouth, a jutting nose, a loud voice, and a 
gift of Kiplingesque language. He wears a drooping tie like 
a neck-bouquet, and has huge hands. He is the " average 
sensual man," seen through a magnifying glass, and looks 
like a super-drummer. In speaking, the touch of charlatan- 
ism disappears, and the strength that has lifted him from 
poverty to leadership comes through. He chews his words 
with vigor and accentuates ch's and c's. He hisses his attacks, 
bitter and fearless : 

There are members of the Parliamentary Committee who are 
more reactionary than the House of Lords. Their action has been 
a smoke screen to protect the reactionaries of the government. 
We are told that certain forms of action are unconstitutional. Is 
the war against Russia a constitutional war? One day that scion 
of the house of Marlborough, Mr. Churchill, the would-be dic- 
tator, gloats over the success of the Koltchaks, the Denikines and 
Manneheims, who seek to crush the Russian workers' republic. 
And, then, when the Red army wins, Mr. Churchill says, " We're 
only in a sort of war with Russia." 

Mr. Churchill has thrown down the challenge, and I am pre- 
pared to say that at least one million of the pick of the working- 
class movement will accept his challenge on the maintenance of 
conscription, and the crushing of a working-class republic. If the 
leaders don't take action constitutionally, then the rank and file 
will take action. As a trade union official, I wish no conscription. 
The government is attempting to get the same power over the 



88 THE YEAR 

workers industrially as in the war. We have a proof in the 
infamous army circular. [Exposed by the Daily Herald.] 

But the military cannot be relied on to crush a working-class 
movement. I am credibly informed that the navy is even less 
reliable than the army. The police are less reliable than the navy. 
Let the conference decide whether it is possible to promote indus- 
trial action for political action — to use what our French friends 
call Paction directe. 

Then followed the demonstration of the three days. A 
gray, bent man rose in the center of the hall, and acclamation 
grew till it was a tidal wave. For a moment or two the dele- 
gates broke into song, while Robert Smillie walked to the 
front. 

He came to them from his long battle on the Coal Commis- 
sion where, with the equal help of Hodges and Sidney Webb, 
he had won a wage gain and a shortening of hours that give 
his miners a good life. And more than that he had won ; for 
he had obtained a majority decision in favor of nationalization 
and workers' share in management, which in the end will 
make his miners into public servants. He would wrest the 
minerals from the Dukes and hand the mines over to the com- 
munity. As the foreign delegates testified, he had given the 
pace to the labor movement of Europe. The past and present 
of the man were about him — his almost fifty years of strug- 
gle and his part in the march of labor. He stood a foot away 
from where I sat. His bent figure and lined face are pa- 
thetic, but it is not the pathos of failure — it is the pathos of 
the old warrior. 

" Don't spare 'em, Bob," came a voice from the gallery. 

Smillie said in part: 

The Executive Committee has taken the position of every ex- 
ploiter, capitalist, and politician. What they fear more than any- 
thing else is direct action. Direct action may be constitutional 
action. Labor leaders were tied up under the munitions acts and 
the strike made illegal. The rank and file could only protest. 
The actions of the trade unions should have been kept free. 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 89 

[Smillie kept the miners free by refusing to enter the Lloyd 
George Treasury Agreement.] 

Where do political questions end and industrial questions begin? 
Politicians say that the nationalization of mines is political, but 
does the conference condemn the miners who made up their minds 
they would strike if they did not get nationalization of mines? 
To me nationalization is a great labor question. Starved and 
kicked and kept in miserable houses for generations, the miners 
have been building up fortunes for the privileged class. Are the 
organized miners not to use the power of their organization to 
improve their conditions by nationalization of mines? Yea, and 
our Executive Committee is now congratulating the miners. 

Is the action of the government constitutional? The present 
government is sitting through fraud and corruption. They have 
deceived and lied. Is the labor movement to take no action? But 
no person proposed a stoppage of work to overthrow the govern- 
ment. . . . We want to take constitutional means in order to 
prevent later the taking of unconstitutional means. It will be 
safer for the trades unions and the Labour Party to meet calmly 
and constitutionally than to wait until a revolution breaks out 
in some part of the country, which might sweep from one end 
of the land to the other. We of the Triple Alliance wanted the 
whole labor movement to have a voice in deciding the question. 
The Parliamentary Committee has denied us the right to meet 
the whole of the trade union movement. So we have called a 
conference of the three bodies in the Triple Alliance. We would 
have preferred a wider movement. We do not wish to fight labor's 
battle sectionally. It is our duty to let the workers know we 
are behind them. I appeal to the Executive Committee to with- 
draw this paragraph, because it is a slap in the face to those of 
us who are working for what we believe to be the rights of the 
workers. 

James Sexton replied. Sexton is head of the 50,000 dock 
laborers. He is the grizzled veteran of many battles for the 
better condition of the less-skilled and less-organized work- 
ers. His long years of responsible position have schooled him 
to patience and the piecemeal gain. He has a constitutional 
distrust of the radical mind. He has a large forehead with 



90 THE YEAR 

beetling brows over inset eyes. His speech is jerky but forci- 
ble, given in a rough voice of sincerity. He is respected by 
labor and possesses a large measure of influence. 

V Hello, Jimmy, another forlorn hope," said a delegate as 
Sexton came to the front. Sexton replied: 

It may be a forlorn hope, but I do not think so. My friend and 
colleague, Williams, has put the case for direct action. I agree 
with Mr. Smillie that it is difficult, and sometimes almost impos- 
sible, to separate political from industrial questions. Is there a 
man or a woman in the trade union movement who would not 
take industrial action for the nationalization of the mines? . . . 
Against conscription no man is stronger than myself. But is there 
not an easier way of dealing with Mr. Churchill at the next gen- 
eral election? Four years of good sound agitation [Voice: "How 
about Russia?"] is better than the risk of civil war. . . . You 
are letting loose an element now rife in the trade unions which 
you cannot control. I am a revolutionist of a social character, 
but I do not believe in letting mad dogs loose. 

J. Bromley answered him. He is a man in middle life, 
head of 40,000 men in the Associated Society of Locomotive 
Engineers and Firemen. In the past his organization has been 
at odds with the National Union of Railwaymen, but he and 
Cramp have reached agreement. They and their rank and 
file are as radical as the miners. Bromley said: 

I am not going to call men mad dogs. The organized labor 
movement will have to blend the two — political and direct action 
— to save itself from destruction. I compliment the Triple Al- 
liance on their action. Every one of the government pledges has 
been broken. Are we to take that lying down? . . . Unless the 
intelligent and aggressive minority give leadership, the trade union 
movement is going down in a welter of inaction. . . . The rank 
and file have backed us in our strikes. Let us show them that 
we are coming at last. 

He was followed by W. Brace, M.P., of the South Wales 
miners. Brace (like T. Richards, McGurk, and Adamson) 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 91 

represents the more conservative element among the miners, 
just as Smillie, Hodges, Robertson, Straker, Hartshorn, and 
Herbert Smith represent the majority element. Brace is " a 
splendid figure of a man" with raven-black hair, big, black 
mustachios like a benevolent pirate of the Main, and a power- 
ful physique. Brace regarded the use of industrial action to 
settle political questions as a " slippery slope," but agreed with 
Smillie that it is difficult to distinguish between industrial 
and political questions. He said: 

The driving power behind nationalization of mines was from 
organized labor, but to set up the Coal Commission legislative 
enactment was necessary. It was the political party that set up 
the statutory commission. These paragraphs in the executive 
report suggest that the question of direct action should be settled 
by the trade unions alone. But it should be settled by both the 
industrial and political sides of the movement. 

Then Henderson made the second move for the executive 
and the question was put by, to be fought out when a resolu- 
tion in the agenda should come up in regular course. It was 
to return twice more till it was decided. And it was to be 
decided against Henderson, Brace, Sexton, Tillett, and Clynes, 
and in favor of Smillie, Hodges, Bromley, Williams. 



in 

No labor conference would be happy unless some foreign 
delegate had been prevented by a government from attend- 
ing. This time two Frenchmen had been turned back by the 
French, or the Home Office, or the police. They were Fros- 
sard and Jean Longuet, the stormy petrel of labor meetings. 
The conference strongly protested and gave all the more em- 
phatic applause to Ramsay MacDonald, himself the subject of 
earlier embargoes, who had recently returned from central 
Europe. He spoke to a resolution in favor of admitting Ger- 
many to the League of Nations and the revision of the harsh 
provisions of the treaty. MacDonald has a personality which 



92 THE YEAR 

appeals to many races and nationalities. It is an international 
personality, possessed also by Longuet, Vandervelde, and 
B ranting; Jane Addams has it notably among women. This 
means that he talks a language understood by humanity, and 
carries a sympathy which crosses frontiers. Hindus, Irish, and 
Russians are as much attracted to MacDonald as French and 
Italians. It " takes it out of him " to speak. A sob broke 
from him after one of his passages. Henderson is a sincere 
politician without the artistic touch — he persuades and man- 
ages people. MacDonald carries overtones and moves people. 
Both men have a quality of healing that banishes hate and 
division. MacDonald quoted Bolingbroke on the treaty of 
Utrecht, two hundred years ago : " Each of our Allies thought 
himself entitled to raise his demands to the most extrava- 
gant height. They had been encouraged to do this first by 
the engagements we had entered into with several of them, 
with some to draw them into the War, with others to prevail 
upon them to continue in it." The origin of war, said Mac- 
Donald, was the stupidity of the nations that made peace, 
and he went on: 

The iniquitous conduct of Germany against France in 1871 is 
now being punished. Let it be punished in such a way that there 
will be no nation, twenty, thirty, or forty years hence, that will 
rise up and say, " We are going to wipe out the peace of 1919." 

We could say that if Germany were in our position, she would 
do worse. I agree that she would. I have never said anything 
else. Neither in making war nor in making peace am I going 
to copy militarism. A peace made by Germany never would have 
been acquiesced in. 

Another kind of peace is the peace of punishment. Germany 
must bear the burdens of her acts. That is punishment, but 
punishment is most effective with a reserve of justice. The man 
who confuses passion with punishment is not punishing as a judge 
delivering justice, but as a man destroying his enemy. 

There is a third peace that settles the problems of Europe 
and tames those evil passions. 

There is in Europe a great menace of militarism created by 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 93 

the Scheidemanns and Noskes on the one hand, and the Churchills 
and Paris conferences on the other. 

There are still the war-makers — old people, with a gouty foot 
by the fireside, who wish to be heroes and patriots. 

The League of Nations is the one hope. It is bad as it stands, 
but we must make it better — no longer a league of national execu- 
tives, but a league of peoples. All our old enemies must be in it. 

We wish a peace out of the simple heart of man, out of the 
common experience of man. The old governing order gives way 
before the simple humanitarian ideas of the common people. They 
are marching, marching, marching to conquer the land. Over the 
well-nigh countless graves of Europe the grass is growing. Al- 
most one can hear the simple soothing murmur of the growing 
grass, a music rising till the guns are stifled and stilled by it. 
In our own hearts, in our passions, let it be that peace shall rule. 

An added proof that the War is over was furnished by the 
London Times in saying of this speech : " He perceptibly 
stirred the feelings of some of his hearers. On the whole it 
was a moderate utterance from such a quarter, and it would 
probably be endorsed by men of all shades of opinion in the 
party." 

On a Thursday afternoon, the stage filled with friendly 
visitors from Europe and Asia. McGurk as chairman was 
gasping for breath in the strange tongues that broke loose at 
his right and left. 

The foreign delegates made clear seven things : 

i. They voiced the desire for a working-class International. 

2. They expressed the wish that England should give the lead 
to the social movement of Europe. (This appeal to England as 
the pace-setter is from the elder constitutionalists of the Berne 
conference, like Branting, who look to Henderson and Stuart- 
Bunning to keep a steady keel without tipping to the left. It is 
equally felt by the unrepresented left of Italy and France, who 
wish the younger blood of England to shake loose from the step 
by step methods, and indulge in a revolutionary semi-Russian 
program, looking toward a new International of the Moscow 
order.) 



94 THE YEAR 

3. They gave assurance that the Coal Commission had rever- 
berated throughout Europe and heralded a new social order. The 
European movement has been stimulated by the miners' victory. 

4. They demand that Britain should join Italy and France in 
demonstrating against Russian intervention. 

5. They testified that the international labor movement is the 
nucleus for a league of peoples. 

6. They testified that the paramount need is for peace, bread, 
and work — credits and raw material — an end of the twenty-three 
wars now raging. 

7. Unconsciously they revealed sadness, almost despair. Some 
of them are surrounded by chaos and look ahead to bankruptcy 
and disaster. Europe is falling to pieces, and looks to England 
for help and stability. 

One speaker advanced like a priestess. Annie Besant has 
returned to her own, after her twenty-six years in India, 
where she has traveled far toward the " dweller in the inner- 
most." Wherever she goes, dusky, turbanned Hindus guard 
her. She has had a hand in three deep-reaching insurgencies. 
Far back in the '70s, she and Bradlaugh stood trial for mak- 
ing public knowledge to lessen the birth-rate of Great Britain. 
Years later she was one of those first Fabians, with Webb and 
Shaw and Bland, who published the volume that " permeated " 
England, and helped to break ground for last month's Coal 
Commission. With the aid of the Babus she has given trans- 
lations of the Hindu writings, including the " rare and 
precious Lord's Song " of the Bhagavad-Gita. From time to 
time in the last generation the East has stirred with aspira- 
tions and the whisper of her name has flown across the con- 
tinent. 

Annie Besant stood quietly under the greeting of the dele- 
gates, an old woman, with thick white hair in waves across 
her head. She wore a rich robe-like dress of cream-yellow, 
gracious to the eye, and cunningly wrought at the cuffs and 
bodice in dyed stuffs of many colors, patterned of tiny threads. 

" Comrades of the long ago," she began. Her voice caught 
up the gathering with its rhythm, every sentence taking its 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 95 

full curve. The effect of this strange presence, returned to 
the West for what unguessed purpose, was compelling on the 
audience, who ceased to be a labor conference and became for 
a moment a dumb and waiting people, expectant of the word : 

There are only two ways from serfdom to liberty — the way of 
reform and the way of revolution. Will you not help us in India 
to reforms that will avoid revolution? Mr. Montagu's bill does 
not give us a central government. The British Labor Party at 
Nottingham endorsed India's claim to self-government. We come 
now to ask you for your help in gaining from Parliament that 
home rule which you have already declared has long been our 
right. You may say to us, " But you have the blessings of British 
rule, and why would you barter that for the winning of home 
rule ? " We want it to secure those things that make a people 
contented and prosperous — for longer lives and shorter hours and 
food for all. But why should we seek to prove to you why we 
want home rule? It is for you, if you deny us the right, to 
prove your right to make the denial. 

Home rule is the right of every nation, that it may carry out 
its mission in the world; and you can never have the true Inter- 
national until you have nations that are able to unite. 

We would plead with you, the mother of all free institutions — 
to your consciences, your honor, your traditions — to you who 
sheltered Mazzini and welcomed Garibaldi, will you not help 
us? 

The League of Nations is a league of white nations to exploit 
colored nations. It should be a league of free peoples. In India, 
there is the last autocracy in the world. But when you went out 
to fight for freedom, India sprang to your side. She has an autoc- 
racy still, and no date to the ending of it. By the passion of 
her enthusiasm, then, Britain may judge of her disappointment 
to-day. 

Give us some power in the center, and let India through her 
councils speak. Help us to drive a gap in that citadel of autoc- 
racy, and India will widen the gap till the walls fall. 

Some of her children are still-born, and half her population live 
on one meal a day. You are sorry for your starving enemies. 
Will you not also be sorry for your friends? 

Give us freedom, and our people shall not starve. Give us 



96 THE YEAR 

home rule, and we will do for ourselves what you are unable 
to do for us. Give us a chance of raising a mighty nation, a 
nation of glorious traditions, and let it go forward with you, a 
free nation among the free nations that make your common- 
wealth, and Indians will bless your name in the future, and be 
glad at last that you landed in India as merchants. 



IV 

Henderson and Webb believe that a general election will 
soon come, and they are pushing nationalization to the front. 
The resolution with respect to it was therefore one of the two 
most important to come before the conference. The situation 
is this: the Coal Commission by a majority found for na- 
tionalization; Lloyd George and Bonar Law have pledged 
their word to make its findings law; vested interests inside 
and outside of Parliament are determined to prevent this. 
Henderson says : 

It is a matter of enormous significance that the conference is 
confronted with a very real working-class achievement in the 
majority recommendation of the Coal Commission in favor of 
nationalization of mines and minerals, and recognition of the right 
of the workers to a share in the control of the industry. . . . 
They are calculated to hasten the dissolution of the unnatural 
alliance of parties that masquerade at present as a coalition gov- 
ernment. They provide labor with a first-class issue upon which 
to base its electoral campaign. I hope and believe that the con- 
ference will seize the opportunity presented to it and will rally 
the whole of the forces of the organized movement to a joint effort 
to carry these recommendations into effect. 

Around this issue of nationalization the fight is forming 
from all sides. It will be the political and industrial issue 
of the next five years. The Duke of Northumberland and 
the Morning Post see it as clearly as Henderson and Smillie 
and Webb. 

The Morning Post for June 27th says: 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 97 

The old lines of party cleavage have no doubt been obliterated, 
but only to range in a less artificial antagonism the great, endur- 
ing conservative elements in the country, who stand for reasoned 
progress, based upon the established order, and the revolution- 
aries who, in their impatience to make experiments, would put 
everything that is worth having to risk. It is time for every man 
to-day to decide on which side he stands, and no better test could 
be afforded than this issue of the nationalization of the coal 
mines. 

Havelock Wilson of the sailors ranges himself with the 
Post. A committee of conservative members of the Parlia- 
mentary Coalition has been formed to fight nationalization. 
Coal will kill the coalition, the coal report will transform 
political parties and will force Lloyd George to make his de- 
cision as to his own future, whether he shall be the radical 
campaigner, or the rising hope of the ancient landowner. 
Such was the atmosphere in which the resolution on coal came 
before the conference. John Baker of the Iron and Steel 
Trades Confederation (85,000 members) moved the resolu- 
tion. H. Nixon, of the 20,000 blast furnacemen, seconded 
it. It was a clever device to have these metal trades, kindred 
to coal, line up behind the miners. 

A resolution on national finance was brought in by the 
I. L. P., the railwaymen, and four local labor parties. It 
called for a graduated system of conscription of wealth, the 
taxation of land, accumulated capital, incomes and profits, a 
national bank. 

Briefly, the situation is that the national debt amounts to 
one-half of the pre-war total capital value in land, mines, 
railways, building and commercial industry. When the 
troubled and disastrous financial condition of Britain is real- 
ized — as it must be within three years — this plank of the labor 
program will come to the fore. It is a challenge, (1) to 
the possessors of wealth to hand over a larger fraction of 



98 THE YEAR 

their capital and income; (2) to the captains of industry to 
mitigate unchecked "private enterprise" and "private prof- 
its " in order to win the co-operation of labor, which balks at 
operating under the old system; and (3) to the labor leaders 
to tell the rank and file that " the new heaven and new earth " 
has been postponed by the War, and that hard work inside the 
industrial democracy is a necessity for even a scanty measure 
of prosperity. 

V 

The morning of the last day opened with Henderson's 
reading of a statement that " the delegates of the labor and 
Socialist movements in Great Britain, France, and Italy, 
meeting in Southport," had arranged for a general working- 
class demonstration on July 20 and 21, to take, in each country, 
" the form best adapted to its circumstances and to its method 
of operation." This meant that orderly public meetings of 
protest would be held so far as British labor was concerned. 
The foreign delegates — d'Arragona, Renaudel, Jouhaux, and 
B ranting — all of them belonging to the right, had made it 
clear that working-class feeling against Russian intervention 
had grown so intense that organized expression must be found. 
These middle-aged conservative men had sat up late o' nights 
with the British Executive Committee, revealing the gather- 
ing storm, and devising a lightning-rod. 

Then the conference passed on to its most dramatic piece 
of business — the resolution on direct action. Councillor R. J. 
Davies, of the Manchester and Salford Labor Party, moved 
it and seconds came from G. Deer, of the British Socialist 
Party, and C. G. Ammon, of the Fawcett Association of 
7,000 post-office employees. 

Neil Maclean, M.P., one of the Scottish members from 
the storm center of the Clyde, said : 

No war has been declared on Russia. No war credits have 
been voted. The war is unconstitutional on the part of the gov- 
ernment. We are in the war because 1,600 millions of British 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 99 

capital is invested in Russia. Three cabinet ministers, Sir Eric 
Geddes, Austen Chamberlain, and Walter Long, have money in- 
vested in Russia, and wish Koltchak to win. Our troops use 
weapons made by British armament firms who have money in- 
vested in Russia, the Birmingham Small Arms Company among 
them. In the House of Commons men who call the Labor Party 
Bolshevik hold shares in Russian companies, and allow the boys 
of the working-class to be sent to fight for their capital. The 
dowager empress of Russia can enter this country without dif- 
ficulty, but labor's two delegates from France are turned back. 
As between the czarist, Koltchak and Bolshevik regime, I stand 
by the Bolshevik regime. So I call on labor to assist those of 
us who are in the House of Commons, who wish to withdraw 
our troops. 

Up to this point, the more extreme radicals only had spoken. 
They did not represent a voting strength of more than per- 
haps 5 per cent of the conference. Ben Tillett spoke for 
the other extreme. He has a famous history from the days 
when he and John Burns and Tom Mann fought the dock 
strike. Tillett still leads the dockers. He is a short, clean- 
shaven, black-haired, grim-lipped fighting man. He has a 
square chin and in repose is like a small hunk of granite. In 
action he is fierce and springy with a panther-swiftness of at- 
tack. At his best he is magnificent, and he was at his best. 
A few days before, he had carried the transport workers 
in his plea for working-class forgiveness of the Germans — a 
noble plea. Now he was brilliant in his defense of the old 
trade-union way of carrying on the class war. Tillett said: 

For thirty-five years I have been a direct actionist. From the 
source that moves this resolution, I have been subjected to the 
bitterest persecution. This is a political conference. It has no 
right to ask the industrial movement to take economic action 
without consulting the members — pit, shop, and branches. The 
words of the resolution are camouflage to cover the sinister intent 
of the resolution. The trade union movement cannot take this 
action without exhausting every avenue of reason and argument. 
There has never yet been a revolution of the workers. Workers 



100 THE YEAR 

have gone blindly into revolutions, led by the middle-class and by 
professional politicians. Then the workers, like Samson, had their 
eyes gouged out; the politician benefited and the workers suf- 
fered. If we are to take revolutionary action, it must be organ- 
ized, and it must offer a chance of success. Always, the men 
who have been most blatant for bloodshed have skulked out of 
trouble. The lions on the platform have been rats when the sol- 
diery turned out. 

The Triple Alliance can't do these things. There is too much 
talk of the Triple Alliance. It is a body subordinate to discipline. 
Miners and railwaymen and transport workers can't be led by 
the nose. Their constituents must be consulted before action is 
taken. The conference should hand over industrial action to the 
proper body. 

In Russia to-day no trade union meeting can be held. Under 
the Trotsky-Lenine government, no life is sacred, no property 
is stable. There is absolute chaos by direct action. 

When we go to war for our class rights, we must know what 
we are doing. When the fighting comes, I shall not be far 
behind. It is a mistake for this conference to insult the workers. 
The trade union movement will not allow you to boss them. 

Tillett was eloquent and witty, throwing his invective at 
high speed. His was a white-hot speech of deep emotion by 
a man of native gifts. It was a speech that might have won 
the conference, if any but two men had tried to reply. 

The younger of the two rose, and a thousand men broke 
into applause. Frank Hodges did not hear the applause. 
He was thinking of the young men — absent from this con- 
ference of the elderly — whose voice he was. He is thirty- 
two years old, grave and determined ; sharply-chiseled with a 
jutting jaw. The young miner from South Wales has a 
deep, steady voice, with a rolling quality, conveying hints of 
reserve strength. His record at the Coal Commission was 
known to every man in the hall. And as he spoke, the words 
of Tillett seemed "personalities," a little wild and touched 
with hot feeling. Calmly, but with a sweep of conviction 
and a measured force of considered argument, Hodges lifted 
the conference above bickerings. He said: 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 101 

The resolution is an expression of opinion that the labor move- 
ment, because of its weakness, has not accomplished its hopes 
with regard to intervention in Russia. And it says, let us acknowl- 
edge our political weakness and approach the body possessing 
industrial strength with a view to effective action being taken. 
Those words must not be misunderstood. 

They mean that the Parliamentary Committee would be invited 
to call a Trade Union Congress and put a resolution of this char- 
acter on the agenda. The experience of the Labor Party Execu- 
tive and of the Triple Alliance with the Parliamentary Committee 
offers no hope. But we hope that this conference will succeed 
where they failed in influencing the committee. It is not sug- 
gested that the Trades Union Congress can make a declaration 
as to an immediate strike. The effective action may be such 
action as each union must determine according to its constitution, 
but the conference could make a recommendation to the unions 
leaving them individually to discover the way of carrying it into 
effect. 

We have got beyond the discussion of whether we are to sup- 
plement political action with industrial action. If I understand 
the position, the parliamentary party would welcome that kind 
of industrial support which would add to its authority in the 
House of Commons. The miners' strike found its way on to the 
floor of the House of Commons. Do the opponents of the reso- 
lution believe that at no time is it right for the trade union move- 
ment to go to the aid of the political Labor Party? 

The two wings of the movement ought to be in harmony. The 
parliamentary party must not only represent geographical areas. 
It must represent the strength that has accumulated in the trade 
union movement. 

If the resolution fails, we in the Triple Alliance are driven 
back upon ourselves. We do not wish to be. But if there is no 
other way, we must use within the constitution of the Triple Al- 
liance the industrial force concentrated there, and our members 
will have the authority to give us the sanction to declare what 
industrial action we shall take. I trust the members of the 
Parliamentary Committee will heed this resolution. 

This country can move through to the social revolution differ- 
ently from any other country, but if you deny it the right to 
move through constitutional channels, provided by the Labor 



102 THE YEAR 

Party and trade union movement, you bring into being those ele- 
ments of social chaos and disaster which may not be the best for 
the country in the long run. 

This was a clean-cut exhibition of personal power put out 
in easy mastery of a group. The Executive Committee now 
made its fourth attempt to turn a tidal wave into a pool. It 
put forward Clynes. 

War-time food controller, he is not only head of 350,000 
general workers but the most famous representative of the 
million unskilled and semi-skilled organized workers, who are 
approaching more and more to amalgamation. He is an op- 
ponent of direct action for political objects. He has swung 
powerfully to the right as the Triple Alliance has leaned to 
the left, and has written and spoken boldly against their ac- 
tion. He is the most powerful brake in Britain on their 
course. Clynes never indulges in personalities. He has a 
cold-chiseled brain, a limpid speech. In mental equipment 
he is the Elihu Root of the labor movement, with consider- 
able physical resemblance. He is only outreached when he 
meets a man of equal moderation, dignity, and clarity, if that 
man has youth and is for the moment at least the voice of the 
aspirations of the coming generation. Clynes said (to a ouzz 
of interruption) : 

I have always believed that organized labor should use without 
limit the trade union weapon for industrial ends. When it is a 
question of wages, or hours of labor, or workshop conditions, 
there must be no restraint upon the extremest use of the strike 
weapon. But I refuse to use that weapon for so clear and 
obvious a political purpose as that mentioned in this resolution. 
Mr. Hodges has put a very generous interpretation on the reso- 
lution. Its purpose is not only " effective action " but " unre- 
served use of the industrial weapon." [Here came a question 
from a delegate.] 

I was in the government for work I was not ashamed to do, 
and I left the government because I could not separate myself 
from a movement which, even when I believed it to be wrong, 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 103 

is a movement I want throughout my life to be associated with. 

The last time we assembled in a labor conference, we were be- 
ginning a great political struggle and we announced that we had 
360 ready for the fight. We went to the constituencies believing 
in democratic government through parliamentary institutions. In 
60 cases only were our candidates returned, and 300 rejected — 
and rejected in the main by the great working-class constituencies 
where most of our propaganda had been carried on. We should 
not deceive ourselves by saying that workingmen were deceived 
by designing knaves and politicians. The true explanation is that 
the workingmen were not ready. Either we must believe in par- 
liamentary government or reject it altogether. We must not say 
that the results are splendid when we succeed and that they are 
not to be recognized when we fail. We have heard a lot about 
the " ruling classes " and the " governing classes." The class 
which has the power to rule in this country is the class represented 
by this conference. There are twenty million working men and 
women on the burgess roll. Are we to say that those twenty 
millions are foolish enough to elect only the weakest of the labor 
candidates and to reject all the wise ones? In any case those 
who were returned represent the choice of the rank and file. 

The conference ought not to shirk its responsibility. It should 
not throw the responsibility back upon the executives of the dif- 
ferent unions. We are for the moment the choice of the rank 
and file. It must be noticed that the conclusion of the resolution 
is a definite piece of advice and will be interpreted throughout 
the country as a suggestion to the trade unions to use the strike 
weapon for political ends. We hope to see the day when, instead 
of there being a great crowd of capitalists and non-Socialists 
in the House of Commons, there will be a labor and Socialist 
government. What, then, would any class which opposed the 
action of that government be entitled to do ? [A voice, " Strike."] 
Does that mean that any class which had the power should have 
the right to terrorize a labor government by using whatever means 
or manoeuvers were at its command? [A voice, "Let them try."] 
Is that admitted? This course of action would be a blow, not 
at a government but a blow at democracy. It would do a greater 
and more permanent harm to the true interests of the working- 
class than to those of any other class. There would be millions 
of men in the street, with riot and bloodshed. Do we hope by 



104 THE YEAR 

creating disturbance in this country to secure peace in the world 
abroad? The more turmoil there "is here, the more, surely, will 
continue the state of distraction which exists in other lands. It is 
a socialistic principle to educate people to the acceptance of our 
principles, and I am prepared to preach those principles until 
they are applied. 

We are stronger now than the rich. We do not want our peo- 
ple distracted by this movement, but educated. For thirty years 
I have been a Socialist. I remain one. I was taught by Keir 
Hardie. I am willing to go on until those principles prevail, not 
by blood and tears, but by parliamentary power. 

In Hodges' speech, note that he did two things. He threw 
the question, " Do the opponents of the resolution believe 
that at no time is it right for the trade-union movement to 
go to the aid of the political Labor Party ? " This was the 
same sort of challenge which Clynes used a year ago when 
the question of calling the labor members of the Government 
out was to the fore : " Are you for the war, or against it ? " 
Because the question demanded an answer and did not receive 
it, Hodges, like Clynes twelve months ago, carried the confer- 
ence. 

The other keynote of Hodges' speech was : " The Parlia- 
mentary Party must not only represent geographical areas. 
It must represent the strength that has accumulated in the 
trade-union movement." The philosophy of the younger ele- 
ments of labor is in that passage. It is a statement of func- 
tional representation, of guild socialism, of industrial union- 
ism, of producers' share in control, of pluralistic sovereign- 
ties, of the federal principle. The whole recent impulse and 
forward thrust of labor is in it. The National Industrial 
Council and the Coal Commission were a recognition that a 
geographical Parliament is not enough for groups of citizens 
with special interests. The old British State shakes with the 
contest between vast aggregations of capital in the key indus- 
tries and the new " iron battalions " of organized labor in 
those key industries. They are not functioning through Par- 
liament, or a constitution, or a community organization. It 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 105 

is a battle of powerful minorities, unrecognized, unrepre- 
sented, rebels and franc-tireurs, swaying in the night. 

A card vote was taken on the resolution for direct action, 
and 1,893,000 were in favor, and 935,000 against it. So by a 
majority of 958,000 British labor had swung to the left. 

The resolution on conscription went through with a whizz, 
and yet, oddly enough, it called for the same exercise of the 
power of organized labor as the resolution on Russia. David 
Kirkwood moved it. He is the well-known shop steward of 
the Clyde area, who was deported from Glasgow because of 
his activities. One would expect to find him a fire-eater, of 
revolutionary mind. Actually, he is a sober, restrained fam- 
ily man, of open, attractive face, and with the richest accent 
of burring r's in the labor movement. I have encountered him 
before, and always he is the quietest performer of the day. 
Each time I see Kirkwood I have the feeling that, if he 
followed his wish, he would be home with the kiddies out of 
the turmoil. Fifty years ago, the sort of person he is would 
have been a pillar of the kirk, saving money for the educa- 
tion of the bairns, a quiet home-body. He has been forced 
into his rebellion by the injustice to workers. He made his 
stand. Being stubborn, he couldn't back down once they 
started harrying him. They seized him, deported him, and 
created a labor leader. 

In the view of the political constitutionalist, Philip Snow- 
den, the votes registered : 

Less an approval of the use of industrial action to attain po- 
litical objects than an intense disapproval of the foreign policy 
of the Allies. The abstract question of using the industrial 
weapon for political purposes was not really under discussion. If 
that had been the issue the vote probably would not have been 
so decisive. The proposal is to take such means as are at the 
disposal of labor to achieve the one definite object of stopping 
Allied intervention in the internal affairs of Russia and Hungary. 

By direct action the British workers mean first of all a 
consultation by every trade union of its rank and file. This 



106 THE YEAR 

is a process requiring many weeks. They mean consultations 
between the committees of the Labor Party and the Trades 
Union Congress. They mean a thrashing out of the matter 
on the floor of the congress at Glasgow on September 8th. 
They mean a house-cleaning in the Parliamentary Committee. 
They mean Clause 8 of the summarized constitution of 
the Triple Alliance, which reads : " Joint action can only be 
taken when the question at issue has been before the members 
of the three organizations and decided by such methods as 
the constitution of each organization provides." They mean 
after that a series of next steps — action in support of this 
process of group judgment. In taking these steps, they mean. 
to safeguard methodical development, freedom of speech and 
of the press, the right of assembly, suffrage, a Government 
responsible to Parliament, the traditional institutions. They 
would regard it as a calamity if industrial pressure should 
lead to the abandonment of the political labor movement. 
They desire a fundamental structural change without the 
shedding of blood or the loss of productive power. But they 
mean that British troops shall not longer be used for the 
numerous and growing wars of the continent. They mean 
that the pledge to soldiers of return to civilian life shall be 
fulfilled. They mean that the Government shall not disregard 
the voice of the British people against special unconstitutional 
wars as expressed in three recent by-elections. 

If the war against Russia continues and grows, if trade 
unionists are conscripted and retained for a political policy on 
which the electorate was never consulted, then the threat 
of direct action by the trade unions will so grow in volume 
and menace (through the constitutional channels listed above) 
that there will be sectional strikes; and in the end a general 
election will be forced, and this political question (Russia 
and conscription) will be solved by political methods. That 
is direct action of the British brand. 

The situation out of which sprang this sugar-coated, cotton- 
wrapped bombshell is this: Labor in the key industries, or- 
ganized approximately on the lines of industrial unions, have 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 107 

reached for power in the chaos that followed war. The for- 
ward movement of labor issues from these key industries. 
The craft unions, and the conservative older trade unionists, 
are troubled by this forward movement. Some oppose it. 
Some seek for a harmonizing principle inside the old scheme 
of things. In the end sectional unionism is doomed, and there 
will be ever-closer co-operation between the industrial unions. 
The Triple Alliance is the focal point of industrial unionism, 
as it spreads over increasing areas. 

There will be many defections. Havelock Wilson has 
announced his intention of withdrawing his sailors from the 
Triple Alliance on its political activities. Ben Tillett, James 
Sexton, and James Wignall are sure to oppose this pressure 
of the Triple Alliance on the State, and they, with Wilson, 
are redoubtable fighters, with the honorable scars of many 
battles in defense of the working class. They have a power- 
ful following. 

Few women even rise to try to speak from the floor. It was 
at the fag end of the opening day that the first woman's voice 
was heard. My wife, who attended this conference, writes: 

Like the weak voice of a drowning person pipes through the 
confusion the appeal of a woman. She wails, phantomlike — " Mr. 
Chairman," over and over. What chance is there for a woman 
in a man's meeting? None. The man that yells hardest wins 
out; therefore women will never have a chance. 

Those that really know the labor movement, like Dr. Mar- 
ion Phillips — the organizer of women — tell me that we are 
wrong in this; that women are preferentially treated. 

I must leave it as my impression of half a dozen labor con- 
ferences that women as yet with difficulty gain a hearing. I 
believe that there is a superiority, a subconscious scorn, on the 
part of male British labor, ^ust as there is in a large number 
of the middle class. Finally on the last day, one woman 
pleaded in despair: 

" Is a woman allowed to speak ? " 

It was still largely a conference of middle-aged men. 



108 THE YEAR 

Young Britain was heard only in the voices of the soldiers, 
and Cramp, Hodges, and a few more. Honesty, sincerity, 
dogged sure-footedness — these are the qualities. Insistent on 
justice, they are; one voice carries above all the hubbub, car- 
ries and is understood. A group who cannot be hustled, and 
cannot be frightened, slow to anger, but dangerous when 
roused as they well proved in Flanders. Informal, homely, 
these men take their calling without undue seriousness. Many 
were smoking their pipes — there was pipe-lighting all over the 
room, one, two, three, matches flaring, and then the glow 
and smoke-cloud in the dusky background. It was an effect 
like the lighting of miniature camp fires, one catching from 
another till sometimes it swept across the room. All sorts 
of accents filled the air — Scotch, Welsh, Irish, and the fifty- 
seven provincial dialects. Dozens of little splits broke loose 
among the men. Then the steam roller flattened them into 
harmony. " For God's sake, unite," became the anxious cry 
as the hours waned. 

Henderson is a constitutionalist, moderate, seeking har- 
mony and unity. His tactics were obvious. He hoped by 
playing up mine nationalization to divert the ardor of the 
miners from Russia, and so avoid the question of direct action. 
But the Triple Alliance is ready to take on other fights than 
its own, and tactics do not avail in the path of a batter- 
ing ram. 

But a momentary difference on method is not unknown 
to British labor. I have given a wrong impression if any 
reader thinks that the leaders of the center and right will not 
line up with Smillie as he forces into law the findings of the 
Coal Commission. Ben Tillett and Sexton, McGurk and 
Brace, Clynes and Henderson, will be there. On July 2, 
Brace informed the House of Commons : 

The exigencies of the war have made the nationalization 
of railways, mines, and all the key industries of the land inevitable. 

Of the conference as a whole. Henderson has written, " In 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 109 

several respects it is the most important gathering in the 
history of the politically organized movement." Of those who 
composed it and those others in the movement, the Minister 
of Labor, Sir Robert Hprne, said on June 23 : 

The country owes the position of victory which it has accom- 
plished to the efforts of the trade unions of Britain. The most 
steadying influence throughout the war and that upon which the 
government was able most persistently and confidently to rely 
was the help which it obtained from the great trade unions of 
this country. 

It is of high political importance that we in America learn 
to know these men of labor. For Curzon and Carson, Milner 
and Churchill are fast becoming spectral, but Clynes and 
Thomas, Gosling and Hodges, will one day be among the 
governors of Britain. 

SIGNOR DARRAGONA'S MESSAGE 

Secretary of the Italian Federation of Labor, belonging to the 

right of the movement. As such his speech was the 

most disturbing of the day. A responsible-looking 

elderly man of fine, Roman features, of high 

dignity, tall and spare: 

The Italian organization of labor is one of recent formation, 
barely a quarter of a century old — the product of Socialistic 
propaganda. As the result of the war, Italy is almost on the verge 
of bankruptcy. She is in a revolutionary state of mind. To the 
masses, only one solution seems possible — the social revolution. 
There is no coal, iron, raw materials. Temperament and economic 
conditions both are at work. The Italian Federation of Labor 
has demanded a constituent assembly and the socialization of land. 
They hear that the English miners are obtaining nationalization 
of mines. Before the war the federation numbered 300,000, and 
now 800,000. Before the war, the Italian Socialist Party num- 
bered 50,000, and now 100,000. The Socialists have 42 Deputies, 
and control 300 communes, including Milan and Boulogne. 



110 THE YEAR 

The situation is so grave that I anticipate in a short time an 
attempted revolution — a revolution with bloodshed. The results 
may not be large, but a rising is almost inevitable. I belong to the 
right, but I see no other way out. 

HJALMAR BRANTING'S MESSAGE 

One of the useful men of Europe, a Socialist of the old stock, 

anti-Prussian, anti-Bolshevik, pro-Ally. He is of heavy 

bulk, and looks like a responsible statesmanlike 

walrus, with a walrus's mustaches. 

The fall of the Hohenzollerns has been the cause of a demo- 
cratic gain in Sweden. I anticipate that both houses of our legis- 
lature will be social-democratic for the majority of members after 
the next general election. They will then probably enact an eight- 
hour bill, and obtain a further reduction of military service. The 
party has been enormously struck by the report of the British 
Coal Commission, and the step forward it represents. This report 
will have an incalculable influence over the world wherever the 
workers struggle against capitalism. 

Our Swedish Socialist Party is not going to desert the old lines 
of Socialist effort for the new formulae offered to-day [the Bol- 
shevik theory of dictatorship]. 

PIERRE RENAUDEL'S MESSAGE 

Fiench Socialist of the moderate right. With vivacity and 
mental lightness, an inner gleam, he speaks at ever- 
increasing tempo, till it becomes the roll of 
a mitrailleuse, piercing, shattering, 
inciting to action. 

Jaures predicted that war would be followed by revolution. The 
revolution is taking different forms in the nations according to the 
nature of their government. In the autocracies it takes the most 
violent form. In France, of an older democracy, socialism, pro- 
gressing, will lead to revolution in forms less violent. 

The peace treaty and League of Nations do not fulfil the ob- 
jects and intentions of the working-class. Colonial territories have 
been annexed without giving Germany a share. 



YOUTH AT THE STIRRUP 111 

M. VAN ROOSBROECK'S MESSAGE 
Of the Belgian Labor Party. 

Here chimneys smoke. There they are dead. Trade union 
membership has increased from 120,000 to 429,000. In politics the 
situation is not so favorable. We are on the eve of our greatest 
electoral battle for universal equal suffrage. Hundreds of thou- 
sands are out of work for lack of machinery and raw materials. 

M. JOUHAUX'S MESSAGE 

Secretary of the French Confederation Generate du Travail 

[the C. G. T. — the federation of trade-unions'], A solid 

individual with a ruddy face set off by close 

cropped chin whiskers, a long black 

mustache, black hair. 

The world stands before the bankruptcy of the middle-class. 
The principles of labor must now be realized to save the nations 
from bankruptcy. There must be such a manifestation of the 
power of the proletariat that all will know they have left behind 
the period of servitude. The C. G. T. has made its own protest 
against the peace treaty, and insisted on a peace, free from any 
annexations however disguised with phrases. 



CHAPTER V 

THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 

The British Trades Union Congress at Glasgow in September 
reaffirmed the stand taken by the Labor Party at Southport in 
June. It declared overwhelmingly for nationalization of the 
mines and for compelling the Government to enact the Sankey 
report, which called for nationalization. The congress re- 
fused to vote against direct action and voted itself ready to 
call a special congress if the Government refuses to national- 
ize mines, to abolish conscription, and to withdraw the troops 
from Russia — to call it for the purpose of deciding what ac- 
tion should be taken to enforce its will upon the Government. 

The men who forged and welded conference opinion on 
these lines of nationalization, direct action, Russia, and con- 
scription were Smillie, Hodges, and Clynes, along with Hen- 
derson as fraternal delegate from the Labor Party. 

The decisions of the congress are the result of the Smillie- 
Hodges policy (as definite as the Henderson policy). They 
are new for the industrial arm of the British labor movement. 
A struggle is near between labor and the Government. As I 
brought out in my interpretation of Southport, direct action 
does not mean a general strike. It means the threat of indus- 
trial pressure in order to achieve aims (nationalization, Rus- 
sia, conscription) through the constitutional means of govern- 
ment and Parliament, forcing, if necessary, a general election. 

Thus history is in the making at this moment in England, 
history as significant as the Russian Revolution. Labor is at- 
tacking the basis of the old British order. That is an im- 
portant fact. The convention was the little funnel through 
which slowly gathered forces of the past flowed through into 
the future. The labor movement has no more unified pro- 
gram or central government than the Allies in 1914, but it 

112 






THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 113 

forms a line-up, and the events of the next five years are al- 
ready determined and made inevitable by the Coal Commis- 
sion, Southport, and Glasgow, by the Triple Alliance and by 
Smillie. For, the policies adopted by the Glasgow Congress 
mean that the industrial union of miners is the strongest single 
element in Britain and that it has a masterful technique. But 
there follows a typical British touch. Lest any one should 
grow unduly excited, the congress in one of its last acts drove 
the miners off the Parliamentary Committee, and made of 
this committee for the coming year as safe and respectable a 
body as in its days of stodginess. 

An advanced policy and a slow-stepping executive. The 
British worker still reserves his right of dissent and protest. 
He wishes his revolution to come as organic change, gradually, 
with footnotes and reservations. As yet he has no intention 
of going out on general strike for a political end. He wishes 
to use the threat of his industrial power as the method of 
forcing government to go to the country. No large body of 
British labor as yet considers striking on a political issue with- 
out first testing public opinion by a constitutional election. It 
is perplexing to an outsider but traditional and logical to the 
British. Force the pace but don't run off the highway. The 
motivation is the desire for unity. Labor does not mean to 
split to either the left or the right, but to move only so fast 
as will hold in unity over five million workers. 

Eight hundred and forty-eight delegates were in attendance 
in St. Andrews Hall on September 8, and to the best of their 
ability they represented 5,265,426 working men and women. 
In general it has been true that there is nothing slower, surer, 
and drearier than a trades-union congress. It has always 
moved like a tortoise — but it scrapes along in its hard-shell 
way to the goal. It would be futile to run down the list 
of pious, unanimous resolutions presented in the agenda, res- 
olutions on pensions for mothers, old-age pensions, free trade, 
control of industry, Parliamentary procedure, care of the 
blind, amalgamation. For a generation some of them have 
been duly moved and dully seconded. It is a demonstra- 



114* THE YEAR 

THE CONGRESS 

Trade Group Delegates Membership 

Building Trades 35 265,092 

Clothing Trades 38 235,886 

Cotton Operatives 34 100,106 

Dock Laborers and Seamen 69 308,660 

Engineering and Shipbuilding 42 575,253 

General Laborers 97 1, 133,548 

Metal Workers 101 390,906 

Miners 172 683,900 

Printing and Paper Trades 32 137,570 

Railwaymen 22 545,531 

Weavers 93 362,584 

Miscellaneous Trades 113 526,390' 

848 5,265,426 

tion of the soundness, the sanity of British labor. The 
Government can be handed over to them to-morrow, to-night. 
No seismic tremor will follow their advent. They will in- 
herit the power with all the sobriety of the elder tory 
rulers. They partake a little of the nature of peasant pro- 
prietors. They do not wish to spill the beans. Nothing 
rash, they seem to say; we have a living wage; hours 
are no longer killing — let us build our tabernacle in this 
place. 

In truth the young men are not here. The next generation 
is ten years away, and the returned soldiers remain to be heard 
from. 

Poverty and unemployment and cold will begin to strike 
in with the next three years. Events may disarrange even a 
level-headed program. Moreover, British labor has no cen- 
tral government. The congress has no direct executive power. 
Its Parliamentary Commitee of sixteen members, chosen from 
as many trades, is not a central executive. Originally it was 
chosen to serve very much as later the Labor Party functioned. 
Congress is a statement of the mass opinion of powerful, 
elderly delegates, and its Parliamentary Committee is the 
resultant of the ambitions of many separate trades. 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 115 

The New Statesman on August 30 said : 

The total trade union membership in the United Kingdom now 
reaches probably 11 or 12 per cent of the census population and, 
taking males only, well over 50 per cent 1 of the whole of the adult 
male, manual-working wage-earners of the nation. The accumu- 
lated funds of the British trade unions can not nowadays fall far 
short of ten millions sterling. Until the Trades Union Congress 
takes its executive duties a little more seriously and provides, as 
its steadily growing funds easily enable it to do, for a much 
stronger secretariat, the trade union movement and every separate 
union will continue to suffer the consequences of the disorganiza- 
tion to which they are subject. Trade unionism in this country 
as an industrial force is suffering seriously from lack of leader- 
ship. It is the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union 
Congress that so far as industrial policy is concerned supply that 
leadership. 

Furthermore, while the labor group in Parliament has been 
numerically stronger since the December elections than ever 
before, it has been lamentably weak in leadership, ideas, and 
the fighting edge of opposition. (The British believe in the 
opposition as an essential element in government.) The ab- 
sence of four men in particular left labor in the House of 
Commons as a feeble voice. W. C. Anderson, that much- 
loved, sweet-tempered, fearless leader of the left, died. Philip 
Snowden and Ramsay MacDonald were defeated because of 
their orthodox Socialist stand on the issue of the War. Hen- 
derson was defeated in December in a constituency where he 
was not personally known, which he had little time to visit, 
and where accordingly misrepresentation could be used in a 
khaki election. But the mills ground fast for him, and the 
net result of the last nine months is that his position in 
Parliament, in political labor, and in trade unionism is stronger 
than at any previous moment in his life. He radiates power 
and victory. He is at the beginning of his larger career. 
Although on the fourth day the results of Widnes were not 

1 It is in April, 1920, 60 per cent. 



116 THE YEAR 

known, Henderson came before the congress as fraternal 
delegate in the unmistakable mood of triumph. Of opposition 
there was none. He is at the center and heart of British 
labor, the very loud voice of their common sense. 

A little of the fervor of labor's welcome to him was due 
to the talk of the American delegate, J. J. Hynes, who pro- 
tested against the visit of British labor leaders to preach 
political labor and reiterated the opposition of American 
labor to political action. This fell strangely on British ears 
at a crisis when swift and large political expression is the 
only lightning rod that will save the constitutional structure 
from being scorched. The delegates heard him courteously 
but greeted Henderson with great enthusiasm. Henderson 
will not be unseated by the A. F. of L. On the fifth day, 
his victory at Widnes was announced to the clamant joy of 
the congress. Henderson won, first, on his war record, which 
converted a tory stronghold into a labor constituency. Since 
Widnes was established thirty years ago as a constituency, it 
has sent an unbroken representation of tory-conservative- 
unionist representation. Henderson turned the large Decem- 
ber coalition majority into a labor majority of nearly one 
thousand. He won also because of his campaign on opposi- 
tion to the Government, particularly on Russian policy. The 
day is over when lies about pro-Germanism are anything but 
boomerangs, and when a British army can be retained in 
Russia. 

As a fraternal delegate Henderson said : 

It is time we cease to think and talk in terms of propaganda, and 
begin to think and talk in terms of constructive responsibility. 
There are three things I want to ask you to do. First, to make 
up the leeway between the trades represented at the congress and 
the numbers represented in the Labor Party. If we can get the 
two and a half millions added to the three millions it would tell 
at the next general election. The next thing is greater co-opera- 
tion between the congress, through its Parliamentary Committee, 
and the Labor Party through its executive, so that we can go to 
Geneva next February and bring together the most powerful inter- 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 117 

national that has ever been created. Representation of the pro- 
ducers through the Parliamentary Committee, representation of 
the consumers through the Co-operative International, and repre- 
sentation of the citizens through the Labor Party — then we shall 
have a force standing for world peace such as we have never 
had before. 

Finally, I ask you to use all your influence, through both the 
industrial and political wings of the movement, to terminate the 
life of the present government as speedily as you possibly can. I 
make that demand because the government are doing things with- 
out the mandate of the people, particularly with regard to Ireland 
and Russia. We ought to terminate the government's existence 
and have an appeal to the country on conditions much more nor- 
mal than the deceptive conditions that prevailed last December. 

The first outstanding action of the conference was what 
amounted to a vote of censure (carried by a majority of 
710,000) of the Parliamentary Committee for refusing to call 
a special congress to decide what action, if any, should be 
taken because of conscription, Russian intervention, the block- 
ade, and conscientious objectors. In moving the reference 
back of the Parliamentary Committee's report Robert Smillie 
said: 

Personally I feel that the Parliamentary Committee does not 
have the confidence of the trade union movement. Take the ques- 
tion of our blockade. Under it hundreds of thousands of old men, 
women, and children were being starved to death. Whoever were 
to blame for the terrible war, the young and the aged could not 
be blamed. These were done to death by our blockade. I always 
have it in my mind that the time would come again when we 
shall have to meet the fathers and brothers of those people in the 
international movement; and that if the voice of British labor 
was silent on the question, we could hardly raise our eyes and look 
into the faces of those men and shake them by the hand. 

The question of Russia was surely of sufficient importance. It 
might be said that that was a political question with which trade 
unionists ought not to deal. There is no greater labor question 
in the world than intervention in Russia. If the capitalists and 
capitalist governments — our own amongst them — manage to crush 



118 THE YEAR 

out the Socialist movement in Russia led by Lenine — which God 
forbid — and begin to develop with cheap labor, as they intend to 
do, the enormous natural resources of Russia, they will be able 
to flood our markets with cheap commodities, without having re- 
gard to the suffering that might be caused here. 

Although it was passed with little discussion, one of the 
most important resolutions of the week was that of the Ware- 
house and General Workers' Union for the setting up of an 
industrial parliament of labor. The Parliamentary Commit- 
tee was instructed to prepare a scheme " whereby the trade- 
union movement in the future will, on all questions of national 
and international importance, adopt a common policy and 
speak with a united voice." The grounds urged in support 
were the need for industrial adjustments on a national basis ; 
the co-ordination of labor claims made through existing in- 
dustrial councils; the prevention of overlapping and under- 
cutting of demands and " the desirability of reviewing the 
decisions of industrial councils, such as those that may aim 
at the ultimate establishment of compulsory arbitration and 
the riveting upon the nation of a wide system of protective 
tariffs." 

The second victory for the miners came in the passage by 
an immense majority of a resolution reciting that the Gov- 
ernment had rejected the Sankey coal report and adopted in 
its place a " scheme of district trustification of the industry," 
and pledging the congress to " co-operate with the Miners' 
Federation to the fullest extent with a view of compelling 
the Government to adopt the scheme of national ownership 
and commission " and, in the event of the Government's re- 
fusal, to convene a " special congress for the purpose of de- 
ciding the form of action to be taken." 

In urging the nationalization of the mines, and action by 
the congress to " compel " the Government, Smillie said : 

It cannot be said that the trade union movement has acted rashly 
on this question. Since 1882 the congress has passed forty-two 
resolutions dealing with the general principle of nationalization — 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 119 

sometimes a general collectivist resolution calling for nationaliza- 
tion, sometimes a land nationalization resolution, and occasionally 
a mines nationalization resolution. It is over twenty years since 
the congress affirmed the principle that the minerals lying under 
the surface of the soil, which was not created by man, ought to be 
the wealth of the state and not of individuals. 

I want our fellow-workers to believe that we are endeavoring 
to be straight and honest with them. We do not desire the na- 
tionalization of the mining industry for ourselves alone. There is 
nothing of the syndicalist idea in our claim at the present time. 
The time may come when the industries of the country, mining 
and other, may advance a step farther than we are asking at 
present. But it is not in our interest alone that we are asking 
for nationalization. 

The miners were entitled to expect that if the commission 
recommended nationalization the government would carry out its 
findings. The miners were twice dissuaded by Frank Hodges and 
myself from acting on their ballot vote and declaring a strike. 
They believed that the government would carry out what they 
^nought was its pledge. The government and the press thought 
that when the prime minister made a statement the matter was 
ended. 

This question can only end with the nationalization of the 
mines. I have no desire to have a strike in any industry. I hoped 
that common sense would secure justice for them, but while I 
hold that view I also realize that a time may arrive when it 
would be criminal for a labor leader to advise anything else than 
a strike. I have advised strikes when men were being brutally 
treated by brutal employers. I would do the same again. The 
miners knew that a long stop of their industry would bring poverty 
and suffering to thousands of homes outside the mining industry. 
In view of that they felt it was their duty to carry with them, 
if they could, the whole trade union movement. If they have 
established the justice and the necessity for the nationalization 
of the mines, they ask trade unionists not to leave the fight for 
it on the shoulders of the miners alone. I have no doubt that, 
if the miners were of the mind to do it, they could within a month 
stop every mine in the country until the mines were nationalized. 
That would lead to the stoppage of the railways and all industries 
dependent on coal. They do not want that. They believe that 



120 THE YEAR 

the thing ought to be done constitutionally, as it was called by the 
government. 

J. H. Thomas followed, and put his 450,000 railwaymen 
behind the miners: 

I recognize the importance of output and the seriousness of the 
situation, but the country is not going to get output, and has no 
right to ask for output, if there are people whose contribution to 
output is nil, and who receive the maximum benefit from the out- 
put of other people. I congratulate the miners on the great 
service they have rendered to the trade union movement by the 
conduct of their case before the commission. They have shown 
themselves statesmen in coming to the congress, because had they 
attempted to take action " on their own," I should have been the 
first to condemn them. I believe that state ownership of mines 
is interwoven with the prosperity of the country, and because I 
believe that the country is greater than a section, greater than 
this movement, I second the resolution wholeheartedly. 

The solitary delegate who opposed was Havelock Wilson, 
head of the Sailors' and Firemen's Union of 65,000 members. 
He is pathetically ill with a trembling paralysis. After rising 
to speak he had to sit down, and from his chair he continued 
his minority talk with humor and lucid statement. He has 
an admirably clear and resonant voice, with perfect enuncia- 
tion, a rhythm of tone and language, and all done naturally 
and without apparent effort at oratory. But in reality he is 
an artist, a master of the spoken word. It was not from any 
lack of respect for his great gifts, his former record as a 
labor leader, his vigor, his courage, that the congress defeated 
him in his candidacy for the new Parliamentary Committee 
and cheered loudly when his downfall was announced. The 
defeat and the demonstration were administered because his 
opinions are hostile to the views of 90 per cent of the workers, 
because of his attempts to split labor, because of his associa- 
tion with wealthy men, because of his use of the anti-labor 
press (such as the Morning Post), because of his employment 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 121 

of direct action against the workers in refusing to carry labor 
delegates to international gatherings. The enemies of British 
labor have found in Wilson one of their staunchest, boldest 
champions. To labor he seems a lost leader, with something 
of the pathos and shame of Noah. I found myself saddened 
in this passing of the stricken, gallant, old man. I regretted 
that any one rejoiced. No one seeing him will forget that 
quivering, forespent figure. No one who heard him will ever 
forget the rise and fall of his voice, those unstrained intona- 
tions that went winged to the furthest gallery. 

" The State are not the proper people to manage industry," 
he said. " Can you point to one single thing that it has made 
a success of? " 

" The War," boomed a man, and the congress roared its 
delight. 

Tom Shaw put the mighty and conservative forces of cot- 
ton behind the miners, and William Brace, the miners' M.P. 
of the right, followed him. Smillie then summed up: 

Mr. Thomas said, and Mr. Brace agreed with him, that the 
government's reply is likely to be No. Their reply depends upon 
the determination of this congress. If we approach the govern- 
ment in that spirit, telling them that we believe they are not 
going to move, they will not move. That is not the way to move 
governments. Over 5,000,000 members are represented at this 
congress. People say that those 5,000,000 have no right to dictate 
terms to the nation, but what do the 5,000,000 represent? They 
represent a large part of the nation, and I want the congress 
to pass this resolution with the determination that the govern- 
ment must act and the government will act. 

A card vote was demanded, and resulted as follows: 

For nationalization 4,478,000 

Against 77,000 

Of that 77,000, Havelock Wilson's union includes 65,000. 

The debate shifted to another footing when Tom Shaw, 
of the textile workers, moved for a declaration against " in- 
dustrial action in purely political matters." He said: 



122 THE YEAR 

Every one in this country knows that so far as the trade 
union movement is concerned there are two outstanding figures 
in the advocacy of industrial action — Robert Smillie and Robert 
Williams. Their idea of industrial action is to create a revolution 
in this country, and their idea of government is the soviet system 
of Russia. We were told only yesterday that Lenine was the 
great teacher of the age. I say that Russia is not free — her peo- 
ple have no chance of determining their own destiny. I say she 
is not socialistic. If socialism means anything, it means the 
nationalization of the means of production, distribution, and ex- 
change, and their administration by the whole nation for the 
good of the whole nation. That condition of affairs does not 
obtain, and never has obtained, under the Lenine regime in Russia. 
To call it a republic is a misuse of terms. I cannot understand 
the mentality of any man or woman in this congress who pro- 
claims that state of society a republic in which the people are 
denied the right to decide their own destiny and are governed 
literally at the end of a rifle. 

Arthur Hayday, M.P., of the general workers, seconded 
Shaw's resolution. James H. Thomas, head of the railway- 
men, rose to oppose the resolution, but he did it so skilfully 
that half of the newspapers next morning said he had favored 
it. It is not the least of Mr. Thomas' faculties — this of walk- 
ing the tight-rope between respectability and revolution. He 
desires to hold public opinion and also his " radical " rank 
and file, who are increasingly moved by Cramp, Hodges, 
Smillie, guild ideas, the London Labor College, and other in- 
fluences of the left. The vigor of his personality and the 
volume of his voice disguise the delicate balancing which he 
has done for a year. Actually he saw and said that labor could 
not give up its strike weapon, but that the weapon was a 
dangerous double-blade for the wielder as well as the 
victim. 

Frank Hodges, secretary of the Miners' Federation, fol- 
lowed, and held the tense interest of the delegates as he had 
done at Southport. Later in the sessions Clynes was to hold 
it by the same power of reasoned statement — from the oppo- 
site angle. They are separated by a generation in years, and 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 123 

their addresses put the case for and against direct action for 
political ends more tellingly perhaps than ever before in the 
industrial debates that are stirring all England. 

Mr. Hodges has within the year become the voice of the 
young radicals of the movement. His influence is already on 
a level with that of Clynes and Thomas of the center, and of 
Sexton and Shaw of the right. He revolted from Ruskin Col- 
lege, and is a graduate of the famous Labor College (the in- 
stitution of Noah Ablett and W. Craik, where modern Marx- 
ism is taught and propaganda frankly exploited as an element 
in workers' education). Only a little past thirty years of 
age, Hodges has learned one secret of influence — the secret 
that Clynes once gave away in private conversation. Said 
Clynes : 

" From my study of Mr. Balfour I learned the lesson that bigoted 
raillery can never prevail against the carefully cultured self- 
restraint of a truly forceful personality." Then Clynes watched 
the contrast between Mr. Asquith and a playful literary Parlia- 
mentarian. 1 " Never once had I heard Mr. Asquith risk a wit- 
ticism for the sake of pleasing either the House or himself. Not 
once has he allowed himself to forget that the safest weapon of 
leadership in so polyglot a House is dignity, and that the constant 
exercise of this weapon covers a multitude of sins. The longer a 
man of intellect sits in the House of Commons, the more certain 
does he become, that more politicians are undone by their jests 
than by their somber opinions." 

Mr. Clynes has put his finger here on one of the sources 
of his own power over multitudes of men, and that of Hodges, 
Henderson, Thomas, Cramp, and Gosling. The power lies in 
high seriousness of tone, moderation in statement, absence 
of "personalities," cheap, clever phrases, mob oratory. And 
failure in this has led to a diminished influence in men of 
such commanding ability as Ben Tillett, with his fierce, un- 
trammeled invective, and Robert Williams, with his fagade 
of bright, scarlet phrases. 

1 Augustine Birrell. 



124 THE YEAR 

Mr. Hodges said: 

The present discussion reminds me of a debate which you can 
hear every week in the average debating society. It is academic: 
it disposes of nothing. It simply asks this Congress to come to 
conclusions on an abstract question, when presently you will have 
an opportunity of coming to conclusions on concrete questions 
which raise this principle. But as the matter has not been dis- 
cussed, and we have had a revelation of the mind of Mr. Shaw, 
it is just as well that the discussion should proceed. Mr. Shaw 
has revealed what I had suspected was in the minds of many peo- 
ple who oppose those whom they describe as direct actionists. He 
said, to my surprise, that the desire of the direct action movement 
is to establish the Soviet system of government in this country. 
There is nothing more remote from the truth. / do not believe 
that with the characteristics of the British race, and with our tra- 
ditions and institutions, a Soviet system of Government would ever 
become adaptable to our country. But that does not influence me 
in analyzing to what extent the labor movement exercises its func- 
tions in our own country, and whether it exercises them effectively, 
politically, or industrially. 

What is the classic argument against direct action? It is the 
election of November last — the new Parliamentary register, which 
gives twenty million people the vote. Because twenty million 
people have the vote, and had the opportunity to exercise it last 
November and failed to rise to the occasion, the opponents of 
direct action say, " Until you have another election, you must not 
use industrial pressure upon the instrument you yourselves created 
last year." That is the classic argument. Let us analyze it. That 
Parliament was brought into being largely, and admittedly, by the 
vote of the working class, but a working class that had been 
buried in ignorance, caused by a system which had oppressed their 
mentality for generations. They had not developed a political con- 
sciousness sufficiently to see the value of returning three hundred 
or four hundred labor men to the House of Commons. Besides, 
they had no history of achievement to teach them the contrary 
on the part of the Labor Party of older days. The greatest 
source of education to a political democracy is the achievement 
of some power or party which alleges to represent them. If one 
wished to be vitriolic, one would say to the Labor Party: 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 125 

" Where are the goods that you are supposed to have de- 
livered?" 

Having elected that Government to power, having been taught 
to believe, in their half-awakened political consciousness, that the 
Coalition would do for them things that the Labor Party said 
they would do if they were returned to power, this same elec- 
torate, after having had months of experience of the work of the 
Government they created, in my judgment have arrived at a stage 
of political thought and experience which gives them this new 
conclusion that " if we had another opportunity, we would not re- 
turn a Coalition Government to power." But the electorate are 
denied the opportunity. A by-election here and there will not 
materially influence a party which has gained power by a misrep- 
resentation of its own principles. It will not give up authority 
because of a few internal political dissensions. Its majority sub- 
stantially is what it was in November of last year, and it con- 
tinues to act as though it represented the wishes and desires of 
the electors. I challenge that conception. And it is because no 
political constitutional channel is opened up for the people that 
men have to resort to the philosophy and concept of direct action. 
The Labor Party has done all it is humanly possible to do. 
I am astonished that, in view of the impotence of the Labor 
Party, caused by circumstances over which it has no control, it 
does not more frequently come to the industrial movement and 
say, " We are overweighted and crushed by a great political 
despotism. Come to our assistance in order that we may have 
power at our elbow to shatter the institution and re-mold one on 
better lines." 

Mr. Thomas can find no definition which clearly discriminates 
between a political question and an industrial question. Is a purely 
political matter one which seems so remote from industrial mat- 
ters as neither to influence them nor be influenced by them? Let 
us take an example. Suppose this Government comes to Parlia- 
ment and says, " We have decided to embark on a new war." 
That would be a political question, but it would have industrial 
and social effects, and if such a Parliament did such a thing would 
it not be morally and socially right for the Labor movement to 
test its capacity for resistance to the project? It might go down. 
Its capacity for resistance or attack might not be so great 
as some of us fondly hope it would be, but to challenge this 



126 THE YEAR 

right to make the attack is to misunderstand the function of a 
Labor movement, whether it be political or industrial. The con- 
tinuance of the Defense of the Realm Act, and the continuance 
of conscription, are purely political questions, but who will deny 
that they affect us in our industrial lives and in proportion as they 
affect us industrially they become industrial questions? // at any 
time in the history of a political institution it prevents the expres- 
sion of force and power which can be found in an institution out- 
side it, that institution is responsible for the concept of direct 
action, and not the Labor movement. 

The greatest propagandist of direct action is Mr. Lloyd 
George himself. He teaches us the elements of direct action, 
and he must accept the consequences of perpetuating a political 
institution which we believe to have outgrown its functions and 
become anomalous. On the abstract question of the rights of the 
workers to use direct industrial action for political purposes, I 
hold that the workmen's rights are unchallenged and unchal- 
lengeable. Members of the Labor Party — I would warn you — 
because it is politicians for the most part who have urged their 
philosophy against us — I would warn you that the time is not far 
distant when you yourselves will have to come to the industrial 
movement and say " we must have your assistance and support to 
accomplish something which to us is fundamentally right in the 
interests of humanity." I feel sure that you will come, because 
circumstances will compel you to come. For these reasons I ask 
the Congress not to be led into a decision in favor of this resolu- 
tion because of its academic, abstract, and mischievous character. 
If you want to express your views on direct action let it come on 
conscription, on Russia, on military intervention in trade disputes. 
If you decide that you will not take industrial action on these 
questions, it will not be because you have accepted the philosophy 
of continuous political action, it will obviously be because you have 
come to the conclusion that conscription, military intervention in 
Russia, and military intervention in trade disputes, are not big 
enough questions to justify you in action. 

I ask the Congress to turn down this resolution. When in 
future a conference is called to give its decision on the question 
of direct action versus political action, let it be upon a concrete 
fact, and if that fact is big enough, if it is unsocial enough, if 
it is sufficiently in antagonism to the best interests of the working 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 127 

class, I have no fear that the working classes will not say, " We 
will use to the very fullest capacity the power that we feel we 
possess to rid society of a tradition and an institution which 
dwarfs and threatens and thwarts the working class wherever they 
turn." The antagonism between political and direct action will 
grow. It will reach its pinnacle when the industrial classes chal- 
lenge the existence of the capitalist system. I warn you in 
preparation for that day, which may be far distant or may be 
near: Do not create a new tradition which will effectively prevent 
you from acting at the great historical moment. 

It is wise to report Mr. Hodges at length, because he is the 
most promising and already the most powerful young man in 
British labor. Unlike most of the older leaders, he has a policy 
and a philosophy. It is as necessary to learn his mind as that 
of Lord Robert Cecil and Sidney Webb, if we wish to under- 
stand modern Britain. 

After a brisk and brilliant debate, the previous question was 
put — which means " passing the buck," an evasion of the 
issue. The congress refused to decide against direct action. 
If they had passed this resolution, it would have put them 
in this position: if they went to the Prime Minister, and he 
refused their request, they would then have been pledged not 
to exert the only pressure immediately open to them. 

James H. Thomas, in moving the resolution on Russia and 
the military service acts, and, failing repeal and withdrawal, 
the calling of a special congress to decide what action shall 
be taken, said: 

The unfortunate thing in discussing Russia is that those who 
demand some clear statement of policy or who protest against 
men being conscripted for one purpose and used for another, are 
invariably met, not with a statement of the case, not with a 
defense of policy, but the war-cry that they are sympathetic to 
Bolshevist rule. I will only answer that by saying that, so far 
as this congress and the labor movement are concerned, we refuse 
to give the right to any government in any country to interfere, 
to dictate, or attempt to mold that policy which must be the duty 
of the people themselves. 



128 THE YEAR 

Smillie supported the resolution, saying: 

It was put by Mr. Shaw that all our efforts in the direction of 
direct action were for the purpose of endeavoring to bring about 
a revolution. Personally I give that the lie direct. I am pre- 
pared to accept that sort of thing from dukes and capitalists, and 
capitalist newspapers, but it is too mean, too contemptible, for 
one comrade to say of another. We have been charged also with 
conspiracy and sedition. Any man who at all times keeps before 
his eyes the sufferings of his class, and recognizes that capitalism 
is the cause of that suffering, will always be charged with trying 
to foment revolution. 

I have for thirty years preached the necessity of an industrial 
revolution in this country, and I will go on preaching that, so long 
as my life continues. Life at the present time, and in the past, 
has not been worth having, and it is our business to advocate an 
industrial revolution. I do not desire to see an armed or a bloody 
revolution. I am an evolutionary revolutionist. 

Tom Shaw himself followed in support: 

On the vital issue there is no difference of opinion. Not a man 
in this congress believes in intervention in Russia. We should not 
shed one drop of British blood on an internal Russian quarrel. 
Conscription is bad in essence, and is not to be tolerated in peace. 
I shall welcome the time when we come to grips with the question 
whether or not the working people shall adopt direct action. Mr. 
Smillie will find that I am as keenly with the majority as he can be. 

Then it was that Clynes answered in a speech, so clear, 
reasoned, and moving, that the congress responded in round 
after round of applause. It was entitled to the same respect 
and received it, as the statement of the new order by Smillie 
and Hodges. No other man in the British labor movement 
is comparable to these three in reaching the mind and heart 
of a multitude with the memories and traditions, the hope 
and aspirations of their group inheritance, projected in wide 
survey and touched by personal suffering. 

Mr. Clynes said: 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 129 

I do not mind a special Congress being called if an unsatis- 
factory answer is received from the Government in regard to the 
great questions referred to in the resolution. When the Congress 
is called we shall have an opportunity to see what the desires of 
the rank and file are. Meantime, I hope you will allow some 
reference now to the other subjects referred to by Mr. Smillie. 
It is possible for one to get into a habit of mind of believing 
that he is the only just man in the movement; that when he 
calls it is to be hoped that all other men will follow; that when 
he leads the lead must be in the right and wisest way. Now it is 
possible for that man to be mistaken and not know it. 

I go as far as any one in the desire to see property nation- 
alized which should be the property of the nation. The mines, 
minerals, waterways, land, the whole of the great factors which 
are the arteries of the national life, ought, in my judgment, to 
be nationally owned and democratically and nationally controlled. 
The question is not one of what ought to be done, it is a ques- 
tion of how you are going to do it, and it is possible for men 
to have quite honest differences of opinion on matters of policy 
and questions of method. 

The older I have got in this work the more I have seen the 
futility of methods of violence. Mr. Smillie does not want, of 
course, violent methods at all, but that is the first thing that direct 
action will get for us. Turing out your millions of men, tell them 
they are coming out for a day only, a trifle, a strike for twenty- 
four hours, and perhaps it will run into forty-eight. Having got 
two days you will want two days more. It is far easier to get 
your men out than to get them back, and all the time your Gov- 
ernment and the other remaining parts of the community, you 
imagine, will be doing nothing. They will simply be waiting for 
the moment of labor's victory. Surely all experience is against 
any such lame and impotent conclusion as that. You cannot bring 
millions of men out to begin a great struggle like this without 
anticipating a condition of civil war. 

Your Government would not be standing idly by. The stop- 
page of the industrial and social life of the community would 
require on the part of the Government some attempt to keep 
things going, some attempt to get food and supply the immediate 
needs of life. In the comparatively small disputes that we have 
had in this and other countries we have seen how soon the tend- 



130 THE YEAR 

ency to violence has been manifested, and how soon riot and 
bloodshed have been the consequences of action of this 
kind. 

Direct action is blessed in the possession of an attractive name; 
it is blessed in nothing else. It means the breaking of workmen's 
heads and the breaking of women's hearts. It would give to 
every other section of the community the right, in the days of a 
Labor Government, to imitate the bad example which Labor had 
set. We fought, and have been fighting, for years as long as 
the oldest man in this Congress remembers, for Labor to capture 
the political machine. That part of the battle has been won, and 
as soon as the working man has got the means to capture it we 
tell him that the course is without hope; we allege literally that 
he has no sense how to use the enormous voting power which 
he possesses. You are taking a line which weakens the hand of 
the Parliamentary Labor Party, you are confusing the mind of 
our own class in the country, you are alienating the sympathy 
of the great masses of well-meaning men and women of other 
classes than our own, without whose sympathy and support you 
cannot hope to capture the political machine, and become the Gov- 
ernment in place of the Government you have now in existence. 

Imagine the Labor Government in power. It is certain that 
it will not long have been in office before a few millions of people 
will allege against it that it is exhausting its powers, it has no 
mandate for this and no authority for that. Do you mean that 
in those days those who disagree with the action of your Labor 
Government will have a right to resist your laws, to trample 
on your decisions, and to resist by unconstitutional action the 
administrative and legislative acts of the Labor Parliament? Are 
you going to concede, in the days of Labor's power, to every 
other class which is put under your authority the right to resist 
your laws as you say you have the right now to resist them, by 
the use of the strike weapon? You will, I say, set to all other 
classes the bad example that you ought to be the first to avoid. 
Having got your political power your next step is political agita- 
tion. Do not delude yourselves with the conviction that your class 
is united. If they are not united enough to go willingly and intel- 
ligently to the ballot box you deceive yourselves by thinking that 
you can drag them out of the workshop against their will, or 
that, having got them out, they will fight as an intelligent and 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 131 

united body until victory is won. That is the mistake which the 
direct actionists are making. 

Taunt me if you will with being more or less of a fogey, if I 
say that I believe enduring and sure progress must be slow prog- 
ress. I deliberately assert that that is the doctrine of all history. 
Do men think so highly of themselves as to believe that in this 
their time they somehow have been ordained completely to turn 
the world round, and change the condition of things, so that when 
they have finished nothing more remains for mankind to do ? This 
is an old country. It is only within the last half century that 
the working classes have got any power. They have not yet got 
the consciousness of it, but the power they have got — this right 
to vote, the hallmark of real liberty, the stamp of the free man, 
which makes the poor equal to the rich — nay, which would make 
him superior to the rich if he would unite and use his right, the 
right of education, the right to unite and collectively apply the 
great constitutional power he acquired. All these things are new. 
We have not yet learned how to use them wisely. 

I am well content, looking along the centuries, to see that my 
class in the day in which I happen to live have acquired this 
enormous power. I am content if I can do a little to teach them 
how wisely to use the power. Looking ahead I can see Labor 
in the seats of power, and I want Labor's laws to be respected 
and observed, just as I ask Labor to observe and respect them 
now. I agree with all you can say against the Government, for 
I have said it to their face, in regard to conscription and Russia, 
and each one of our other grievances. But what a 9tate of social 
turmoil must there eternally be if each aggrieved class in the 
country is to claim this right to revolt. 

To get conferences specially arranged in order that we might 
deliver speeches to each other is a waste of trade union money 
and our own energies. Are we, each time a man's head is full 
of fine language he would like to hurl at some Minister, to get 
together a special platform for him? Does it mean that our 
friend Mr. Robert Williams must have a special public oppor- 
tunity of selecting the particular adjectives with which he will 
choose to call Mr. Churchill a liar? We have more important 
business than this to do. Our business is not so much that of 
converting our enemies, as of converting our friends, and we will 
not convert our friends by threats. Labor is only beginning to 



132 THE YEAR 

learn how to govern. We are just on the threshold of the wise 
use of the enormous authority we have acquired, and while you 
are asked to use your pressure to get your Government to con- 
form to your wishes on conscription and Russia, I beg you not 
to go further and challenge the existence of the State, and claim 
the right to a class dictatorship. Workmen who say they cannot 
be driven but can be led must also concede to other Britons of 
other classes the same feeling. You must lead them, persuade 
them, guide them, convert them, and when you have done that 
they will join you in seeking to change the conditions which op- 
press them equally with yourselves. 

This is the most comprehensive and exalted expression in 
the past year of the philosophy of a labor leader of the older 
generation. There is perhaps no greater debater in the labor 
movement. 

The resolution was carried with only two voices raised in 
protest. 

" The most important trades-union congress in the history 
of the British labor movement " came to an end with a debate 
on the question of Ireland. The question was raised on the 
following special resolution, moved by J. H. Thomas: 

This congress views with alarm the grave situation in Ireland, 
where every demand of the people for freedom is met by military 
rule. The congress once again reaffirms its belief that the only 
solution is self-determination, and calls upon the government to 
substitute military rule by self-determination as the real means 
whereby the Irish people can work out their own emancipation. 
This congress expresses its profound sympathy with our Irish 
brethren in their hour of repression. 

With the new Parliamentary Committee inclining toward 
the earlier conception of the function of a trade-union move- 
ment, the fighting policy (labor is nothing if it is not militant) 
clearly depends for its dynamic and its direction on the chair- 
man. J. H. Thomas was elected chairman of the Parliamen- 
tary Committee and therefore chairman of next year's con- 
gress, and of any special congress. His summing up of the 



THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 133 

congress is of importance because it reveals what he considers 
the mandate given to him, and shows in what direction he will 
exercise his leadership. He says: 

The congress felt that after the appointment of a royal commis- 
sion to consider and report on this matter (the mines) the gov- 
ernment were morally bound to accept the findings of the 
commission. There can be no doubt that the workers are behind 
the miners in the demand for nationalization, not, let it be ob- 
served, because of any benefits to accrue to the miners as miners, 
but on the much broader and sounder ground of a proposition of 
interest and benefit to the state as a whole. The principle was 
clearly put that no section of the state is greater than the state 
as a whole, and it is in that spirit that the proposal was carried. 

Considerable confusion exists with regard to the vote on direct 
action. There was no vote for one simple reason, that the word- 
ing of the resolution submitted could have been construed as 
giving away the right to strike under any circumstances. 

On conscription there is only one thing to say — we succeeded 
in crushing German militarism and we were told that among the 
other advantages would be a reduction on military expenditure. 
This year's budget gives the answer, and the fact that the number 
of men — volunteers — in the army to-day is greater than the pre- 
war standard is sufficient comment on the situation. 

In short, the labor movement, through its congress at Glasgow, 
is not only alive to where we are drifting, but intends to play 
its part to save the country from ruin. 

Inside the Parliamentary Committee, in these years of crisis, 
Thomas has unflinchingly given his vote to the side of inter- 
nationalism. This coming year, therefore, the Parliamentary 
Committee can be counted on for five things : 

1. To work in closer harmony with the executive of the labor 
party. 

2. To co-operate in the labor and Socialist international. 

3. To stiffen up and strengthen the National Industrial Council. 

4. To get a move on the Parliamentary Committee in general 
business. Thomas is a hustler in execution when he receives a 
mandate. 



134 THE YEAR 

5. To watch carefully the currents running through the rank 
and file, and not seek merely to suppress them. 

It is probable that we shall see either a general election or 
special congresses within the next few months. Such a special 
congress might well force a general election. The congress 
will deal with a " burning issue," not with the abstract ques- 
tion of direct action. It would prefer a general election to a 
general strike. It is not ready to substitute the congress for 
Parliament. But it showed at Glasgow that it is determined 
to have a representative Parliament and a democratic Gov- 
ernment. 

Any one reading this report of congress would gather that 
Smillie, with the organized power of the miners back of him, 
was the chief figure of the congress. He was. He had so 
carried the congress in his stride that the 847 other delegates 
could do no less in their British self-respect than assert that 
they, too, were among those present, and defeat the miners' 
candidates for the Parliamentary Committee, and re-elect 
most of the group they had just censured. It was either that 
or make him the lone leader of all labor. This is something 
they have never done for any man. 

The Glasgow Herald (an anti-Smillie paper) said on Sep- 
tember 12, " Events have conclusively shown that Mr. Smillie 
is the dominating personality of the congress." The New 
Statesman of September 13 said: 

However wrong his methods may be, the indisputable fact re- 
mains that Mr. Smillie has done more than all the parliamentary 
labor leaders put together to make a continuance of Mr. 
Churchill's Russian adventure impossible. Without him and his 
direct actionist friends it is, to say the least, doubtful whether 
the labor view on this vital question would have obtained any hear- 
ing at all. There is surely something there to be remedied. 

Alexander M. Thompson, the labor writer of the Daily 
Mail, says of the vote for nationalization; 






THE CONGRESS AT GLASGOW 135 

That is the net result of one strong, determined man's grim 
tenacity to one fixed and unalterable idea. The only possible end 
to the fight on which he has entered, Mr. Smillie solemnly told the 
congress, is the nationalization of the mines, and his impassioned 
advocacy of that end carried the assembly like a rushing mountain 
torrent. It was a speech of great eloquence, evidently intense feel- 
ing and persuasive discretion. The result of the vote was never in 
doubt, but Mr. Smillie's oratory made assurance doubly sure. 

The difficulty of disposing of Mr. Smillie was that no leader 
was more in control of his rank and file. Where other leaders 
have split their following, he had the backing of his miners. 
They have been resolute constitutionalists in their trade-union 
and congress proceedings. To attack Smillie personally is im- 
possible. His honesty in agreements has been testified to by 
Lord Askwith in the House of Lords. His personal life is 
the pride of Lanarkshire workers. He is attacked politically 
by most of the press of Great Britain. The wearing effects 
of such criticisms are cumulative. 

All sections of the left had united on Smillie in making 
him their spokesman. They were pushing him out upon every 
strategic platform. He had dominated the Coal Commission, 
the Southport labor conference, and the Glasgow congress. In 
the quality of his utterances I feel that he is stretching him- 
self beyond the power of his physique, that he is at the end 
of his working life and knows it, that we are listening very 
literally to the " last words " of one who will be a tradition 
in Britain. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE RAILWAY STRIKE AND THE FOURTEEN 

The railway strike resulted in a settlement — not in a victory 
for either side. The Government has stabilized wages for 
the next twelve months, and has opened the whole question 
for fresh discussion. What is called its " definitive " offer is 
thus thrown back into the melting-pot. The railwaymen will 
continue at their war wages till next autumn. 

For the first time a representative body of trade-union 
leaders acted as mediators in a wage dispute. They did not 
make the terms of settlement, but they continued to bring the 
two parties into negotiating touch with each other. They 
made the railwaymen and the State " behave." 

The mental attitude of the committee was expressed by Mr. 
Clynes, who said that, like all trade-union leaders, he re- 
garded the terms originally offered to the lower grade rail- 
waymen as the beginning of a deliberate attempt to bring 
the general subsistence wage back to the 1914 level, and this 
return to intolerable conditions he emphatically declared must 
be resolutely resisted by all classes of organized workers. 

" The Prime Minister himself has urged us," he said, " to 
be audacious in our demands. We are too anxious for the 
prosperity of industry to follow his advice, but we do not 
think we are showing audacity in insisting that the shameful 
industrial conditions of pre-war days shall not be restored. 
For the efficiency of the nation and the welfare of the State 
we think it our duty to stand firm for the upward progress of 
the people's standard of life." 

The fourteen men who brought about peace were appointed 
by the conference of trade unions called by the Transport 
Workers' Federation. 

136 



RAILWAY STRIKE AND THE FOURTEEN 137 

Mr. H. Gosling (President, Transport Workers' Federa- 
tion). 

Mr. R. Williams (Secretary, Transport Workers). 

Mr. J. R. Clynes (President, General Workers). 

Mr. A. Henderson (Secretary, Labor Party). 

Mr. Muir (Electrical Trades Union). 

Mr. E. Bevin (Bristol Dockers). 

Mr. J. O'Grady (Furnishing Trades). 

Mr. J. T. Brownlie (Engineers). 

Mr. J. W. Bowen (Postmen). 

Mr. T. E. Naylor (Printing Trades Federation). 

Mr. R. B. Walker (Parliamentary Committee, Trades Union 
Congress). 

Mr. C. W. Bowerman (Secretary, Trades Union Congress). 

Mr. F. Hodges (Miners' Secretary). 

Mr. G. H. Stuart-Bunning (Postmen, Parliamentary Com- 
mittee, Trades Union Congress). 

The Westminster Gazette, October 7, 1919, says: 

To us the experience of this time seems to be something like 
the discovery of a new principle which ought next time to serve 
first instead of last. This is the role of the neutral trades, which, 
acting as mediators between the Government and the railwaymen, 
found the way out which baffled the disputants. The eleven, or 
the fourteen, as they subsequently became, played a new part of 
the utmost importance, and played it, by common consent, with 
great discretion and moderation. If they became a permanent 
part of the machinery of conciliation, and it became a regular 
practice to consult them at a given stage in a dispute, we ought 
to get rid of a great part of the suspicion which attaches to the 
ordinary forms of conciliation and arbitration. 

Mr. Arthur Henderson handed me this statement on the 
same point: 

The " fourteeen " representatives appointed by the Trades Union 
Congress were all of them connected with Labor Organizations 
whose interests were affected by the crisis. They held as between 



138 THE YEAR 

the Railwaymen and the Government a position of very great 
delicacy. They confined their efforts mainly to bringing the two 
parties together, leaving them to settle the dispute for themselves 
and taking very little part in the discussion upon the merits of 
the Railwaymen's case between the Railwaymen and the Govern- 
ment. But they kept in close touch with both sides, almost from 
hour to hour, making suggestions to one side or the other, re- 
starting negotiations which seemed to have broken down, and being 
present at the joint discussions when, as a result of their efforts, 
these discussions were resumed. Because of the vast interests 
involved they were anxious to avoid an extension of the Strike 
which would have had incalculable consequences, but as the nego- 
tiations dragged on they became more and more convinced that 
the original attitude of the Government towards the Railwaymen's 
claims would have to be considerably modified if a catastrophic 
breakdown of industry was to be averted. 

It was a peace without victory — a peace with honor, which 
in my judgment did essential justice to the Railwaymen, 
and it contained a promise of a generally satisfactory solution 
of the whole wage question which, as a result of the war, 
has passed into a new phase. I am not sanguine enough to think 
that the settlement will prove a millennium, or that the employing 
classes have undergone a miraculous change of heart. There were 
many activities in this strike which showed how near we were to 
a real struggle of class, and showed also how destructive that 
struggle must be. Many things were said which were better for- 
gotten, some things were done which ought never to have been 
possible, but the settlement stands as a prime achievment of re- 
sponsible Trade Union leaders who intervened in the struggle not 
simply in the interests of their own class but to serve the best 
interests of the community. It points the way to that developing 
partnership of the Trade Unions in the control of industry which 
is the working class policy. 

Those Trade Union leaders who have been closely concerned 
with important industrial events during the present year are com- 
pelled to recognize that the failure to secure organization of a 
national industrial council has been nothing short of a disaster. 
The spirit which pervaded the discussions between employers and 
Trade Unionists in the joint committee set up by the joint Indus- 
trial Conference called by the Government last February, en- 



RAILWAY STRIKE AND THE FOURTEEN 139 

couraged the hope that one great defect of our industrial system 
would be removed. Had the National Council existed, I am con- 
fident that the dispute between the Government and the Railway- 
men's Union would never have developed into the actual stoppage. 
If I am asked why the unanimous recommendations of the Em- 
ployers' and Workpeoples' representatives have not been carried 
out, I can only reply that the responsibility does not rest with 
them but rather with the Government which has been unwilling 
to regulate the hours of all employed persons by legal enactment. 
It is of the utmost importance that every effort should be made 
to remove the bad impression thus created and to restore the con- 
fidence of organized labor, which will make it possible for the 
producing classes to feel that they are really partners in in- 
dustry and that their interests lie in securing the conditions of its 
success. 

In the Daily News for October 7 and 8 Mr. Harry Gosling, 
President of the National Federation of Transport Workers, 
writes : 

What men like myself are now setting ourselves to do is to 
construct a new channel by which the force of the movement may 
be regulated. Already a proposal has come out of the strike that 
we should form a central executive empowered to act for the 
whole body of Trade Unionism in negotiations with the Govern- 
ment. At present each unit of Labor has a substantial head, but 
there is no head at all for the whole Labor movement when it 
comes to a matter of industrial action. This new body would be 
similar in constitution to the executive of the Trade Union Con- 
gress but more closely knit, more powerful and more readily 
brought into action. 

You may argue that such a body would be a danger to the State, 
because it would be a rival to the executive of Parliament, which 
is the Cabinet. My reply is that a gigantic movement calls for 
a powerful instrument. If no such powerful instrument is in 
existence the movement will break bounds and chaos result. To 
put it bluntly, you must either have this or something very much 
worse. 

The time has come when the political Cabinet must take an 
industrial partner. The young men are demanding it, and although 



140 THE YEAR 

it may be easy enough to chloroform old men like myself, you 
can't chloroform the rising generation. Let us work, then, with 
all our might to establish co-operation rather than rivalry between 
these two forces within the one nation. 

I know a very great authority who has worked out what it cost 
him to " win " a certain dispute. It cost in the first year after 
the " victory " something like 30 per cent in depreciation of out- 
put owing to discontent, and a number of years passed with a 
declining loss in each, till he got back to the normal. A "vic- 
tory" for capital involving an unconditional return to work is 
always at bottom a defeat. Lord Devonport beat us at the Docks 
in 1912. He won. 

But ask Lord Devonport to-day how much he won, and if he 
replies frankly, you will get a surprising answer. Year by year 
ever since 1912 we have been " getting our own back." It had 
to be done, but nevertheless it has been a bad thing — for Labor, 
for Capital, for the community. 

It is my hope that the railway strike will induce the general 
public to think along these lines. Unless they do, all the efforts 
of the mediators cannot prevent the coming of a class war. Such 
a war, if it comes, will be intensified as a result of the great 
European war. The war showed a great number of men that 
force is indeed, a very effective thing. It taught them to think 
of sheer force as the live end of any cause. 

Moreover, these men who have come back from the war do not 
regard mere physical consequences quite in the light they did 
before. We find, therefore, that those who have fought at the 
front are the most difficult to control and restrain in time of crisis. 
Let the nation take warning. 

During the crisis the State laid aside its sovereignty and 
sacred impersonality and became, very simply, two men, Sir 
Eric Geddes, representing the employing class, and Mr. Lloyd 
George representing the middle class. It became a noisy, 
short-tempered, clever advocate, scoring points; a lively fel- 
low — an amalgam of a grim, strong man, who clicks his 
teeth as he utters ultimata, and of a charming temperamental 
man, enjoying the debate. This brisk entity of the State 
advertised its case in the newspapers, chalked up big snappy 



RAILWAY STRIKE AND THE FOURTEEN 141 

posters on the billboards, and flashed jolly controversial state- 
ments on the movie screens. The State revealed itself as a 
very human, likable, one-sided, rather inaccurate person. It 
finally came as a relief when those eminently judicial persons, 
Henderson, Gosling, Clynes, Brownlie, entered and lifted the 
dispute into the atmosphere of statesmanship. 

As usual of late, Parliament did not act in the crisis. As 
the British Weekly puts it, " We have had on the one hand 
the inner Cabinet, and against them the trade unions, and be- 
tween the two the House of Commons has nearly come to the 
ground." Parliament has been out of the main current of 
events during the War. And it was just its luck to be in re- 
cess at the time of the strike. It would not have been able to 
function because the industrial struggle selects committees of 
producers for its arena, but Parliament could have talked. 

The strike showed that motor transport, as developed by 
the War, has added a new medium of communication. The 
Government had secretly organized a skeleton service for 
transport of food, milk, and other necessaries, and a system 
of civil helpers. As the result, the paralysis of the railway 
service was not a paralysis of the daily social life of the com- 
munity. 

Of this new organization Mr. Lloyd George said: 

I have to take this opportunity of thanking the multitudes of 
volunteers who came to the rescue of the State in these circum- 
stances. They have come in their thousands and tens of thousands. 
In February I came to the conclusion that there were signs that 
this was coming. I felt it my duty to leave the Peace Conference, 
because matters at home needed our attention. Under the Home 
Secretary the Government built up a civilian organization to meet 
the situation. The organization has worked well. 

Robert Williams, Secretary of the National Federation of 
Transport Workers, says of this organization: 

The strike shows that there are hundreds of thousands of able- 
bodied men who are willing to assist in breaking a strike and 



142 THE YEAR 

contribute some temporary useful service in order to cling 
to their domination over, and dependence upon, the organized 
workers. 

The loafers from the Piccadilly clubs went down to the Under- 
ground Railways in order to break Trade Unionism, and then to 
go back to their lotus-eating existence with a feeling of victory 
over the exploited. That is no new thing. The one encouraging 
feature in the dispute is that few if any workers blacklegged 
upon their fellow workers. The blacklegs in the main consisted 
of military and naval units, together with the young cubs of the 
middle and upper classes, who hate and fear Trade Union possi- 
bilities. 

Out of the dispute there must instantly emerge some organiza- 
tion which will be sufficiently powerful to challenge all the vested 
interests organized to prevent Labor's steady progress. The less 
one says of the Parliamentary Committee the better. 

The British Weekly, October 9, said: 

We must get hold of these dukes and earls who helped us with 
the railway, and set them to work in some other manner. 

The whole experience has enormously strengthened labor, 
because it has made clear the fact of class hostility and because 
it has emphasized the immediate need of labor unity, central 
government, a general staff, and a mass program. A " light- 
ning " strike, unannounced to the Triple Alliance, unexpected 
to other trade unionists, must be made impossible. The effect 
of the dispute is that trade unionism will strengthen its cen- 
tral government. This will be done in one of three ways, 
either by increasing the executive power of the Parliamentary 
Committee, or by forming a special sub-committee of the 
National Industrial Council, or by making permanent such a 
body as " The Fourteen," who engineered the settlement of 
the railway strike. 1 

iThe Trades Union Congress of December, 1919, took steps toward 
forming a strong central executive body. 



RAILWAY STRIKE AND THE FOURTEEN 143 

Further, the strike has revealed the difficulties of reaching 
public opinion. The newspapers mainly represent business 
and middle-class interests. Their handling of the facts, their 
emphasis on one set of facts as distinct from another set, their 
appeals to herd instinct, rendered their accounts of the strike 
ex parte. Of the persons I talked with I found that their 
opinion of the strike was made up 50 per cent of personal 
discomfort and 50 per cent from the newspaper which they 
read. The atmosphere of these days of crisis was passionate 
rather than temperate. 

The Times said, " Like the war with Germany, it must be a 
fight to a finish." 

J. H. Thomas said, " That the nation was nearer a civil 
war than it has ever been before cannot be questioned." 

The immense difficulties of a country which has always 
paid misery wages to a large proportion of its workers and 
has maintained a mean standard of living, can be realized by 
the wage-scale offered to the railwaymen by the Government, 
Here, for instance, is the " definitive " scale sent by Sir 
Auckland Geddes on September 19 to the National Union of 
Railwaymen for the Goods Department: 

Small 
Goods Depot Staff London Provinces Places 

Porters, Sidingmen, Lift Attendants, 

Gatemen, Watchmen, etc 47/- 44/- 40/- 

Callers-off, Cranemen, Loaders, Gas 

Enginemen, etc 51/- 48/- 43/- 

Checkers, Storekeepers, Gaugers, 

Warehousemen, Timekeepers . . 55/- 52/- 46/- 

Working Foremen, Searchers and 

Tracers, Senior Checkers, etc.. 58/- 55/- 50/- 

Translate this into American money. A wage of from $8.40 
to $12 a week was offered to men who had fought the War 
and are trying to rear a family. The men struck in order to 
keep the wage which they had gained during the War, and 
which averaged a few shillings above the Government offer. 
The men involved included porters of all kinds, ticket col- 



144 THE YEAR 

lectors, conductors, baggagemen, shunters, checkers, carmen, 
platelayers. 
The Right Hon. C. F. G. Masterman writes: 

An attempt was made to force a large reduction of money wages 
upon a large class of Government servants. It was made in 
secret. It was made without the sanction of a Parliament. It 
was made without any public discussion whatever. 

And he speaks of " the curious campaign of advertisement 
— a campaign in which the railwaymen's funds competed 
against taxpayers' funds in part forcibly contributed by the 
railwaymen themselves, who thus paid for their own attempted 
defeat." 

As high an authority as Mr. Sidney Webb believes that 
" there is a policy of generally lowering wages, there is an 
intention, in some quarters, of ' smashing the trade union by a 
fight to a finish/ and this railway strike was deliberately in- 
tended and provoked." 

The Government attempted to reduce wages and failed. 
The settlement is a compromise and a postponement. The 
real fight will come later. " The railwaymen have checked 
the first attempt to reduce the wages of all manual workers." 

Labor no longer trusts officials and Government. Labor 
believes that they speak in a Pickwickian sense, that their 
promises are swinging doors. 

The New Statesman says : 

It is men like Sir Eric Geddes — clever, strong, fundamentally 
stupid men — who make revolutions. And it is men like Mr. Lloyd 
George and Mr. Bonar Law — men who do not tell the truth and 
who thus undermine the foundations of public confidence — who 
prepare the way for the Geddeses. 

Mr. Asquith at the Lord Mayor's banquet of 191 1 laid 
down the three principles on which a Government might act 
in time of strike. " The Executive Government must provide 



RAILWAY STRIKE AND THE FOURTEEN 145 

the machinery and facilitate the methods of conciliation. It 
must maintain order, and secure the community at large against 
the stoppage of supplies and the suspension of services which 
are indispensably necessary for the maintenance of its every- 
day social life." 



SECTION THREE 
THE WAY THEY DO IT 

CHAPTER I 

THE WAY THEY DO IT 

As fast as full pressure is brought, the opposition gives 
ground. That is why there are not any jutting flames, and 
bloody futile riots, and the other theatricalities of orthodox 
revolutions. Here Ramsay MacDonald eats breakfast with 
Lloyd George, and debates direct action with Mr. Balfour. 
Tawney goes prancing out with a coal owner whom he has 
relieved of superfluous gains. Sir Allan Smith and Mr. Ar- 
thur Henderson spend many hours in hatching a plot against 
autocracy in industry. A great employer begs his shop stew- 
ards to catch up more of the slack and bite off a bigger share 
in factory management. 

It seems comic opera to the European revolutionary (like 
the time when Arthur Henderson opened a banquet, including 
international reds from the continent, with an invocation to 
the Almighty). But it isn't comic opera. And it looks like a 
Dorcas sewing circle to the American business men and the 
stalwarts of the National Civic Federation. But it isn't a; 
meeting of maiden aunts. It is neither- wild nor innocuous. 
It is British. It disguises the fact that a vast shift has been 
made. That famous moment of history has come when a 
nation ushers in another class to power. 

What will happen if demands are not granted ? I heard Mr. 
Sidney Webb one evening tell what would have happened if, 
when the miners pushed, the door had not opened. Then I 
read it word for word in the New Statesman (of March 29, 
1919). So I am justified in stating that Mr. Webb says: 

i47 



148 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

If the Miners' Federation had rejected the terms offered by the 
Government and had withdrawn, on the expiry of the strike 
notices, the labor of their eight hundred thousand members; if 
the National Union of Railwaymen and the Associated Society of 
Locomotive Enginemen and Firemen had been equally recalcitrant 
with regard to their own quarrel with the Government, and had 
drawn out their half a million members; if the Transport Workers' 
Federation, which had its own claims, had cast in its lot with the 
miners and railwaymen, as it was probably bound in honor to do, 
Great Britain would have been nearer a social revolution than 
any one had previously thought possible. These organizations, 
united in what is called the Triple Alliance, comprise, with the 
families of their members, something like seven million persons, 
or one-sixth of the whole population of Great Britain. A struggle 
between them and the Government must have been fierce and re- 
lentless. It must have been short, for the whole country would 
have been, in a week or two, fireless, foodless, trainless, and wage- 
less. The Government would necessarily have stuck at nothing 
to suppress what would have been — lawful as it was — essentially 
an act of civil war; within twenty-four hours the whole country 
would have been in military occupation. The Ministry of Food, 
which has in its hands the greater part of the supply, here or 
arriving, of the principal foodstuffs on which the whole popula- 
tion depends, must necessarily have taken in hand the food dis- 
tribution. Whilst it worked, by an extemporized staff, such at- 
tenuated train service as would have been possible, the whole fleet 
of motor lorries which the War Office has at its command would 
have been organized as an auxiliary transport service. The min- 
ing districts would have been strongly garrisoned with soldiers, 
and the Government had made precautionary preparation for other 
steps of which we prefer to say nothing. Never in the whole his- 
tory of this country should we have seen such a display of force 
against a popular movement, itself absolutely unexampled in mag- 
nitude. 

The miners, railwaymen, and transport workers, on their side, 
would have commanded great resources. In withdrawing their 
labor, after due notice, they would have committed no illegality. 
Their aggregate accumulated funds amount to several millions 
sterling. More important even than their corporate funds, and 
less vulnerable, are the very considerable individual savings of 



THE WAY THEY DO IT 149 

their members, which would have been freely advanced in support 
of their corporate action, and above all the credit that would 
have been at their disposal. Up and down the kingdom the mining 
districts and the great railway centers are the special strongholds 
of the Co-operative Movement, of which an enormous proportion 
of the million and a half strikers would have been members. 
Nothing could have prevented the fifteen hundred Co-operative 
Societies from allowing their own members credit for their weekly 
purchases, and this would have been freely granted, at least up to 
the amount of the members' share capital and deposits. No action 
of the Government could have prevented the English and Scottish 
Co-operative Wholesale Societies, which have their own farms, 
their own flour mills and bakeries and their own food factories, 
from supplying their own constituent societies. And the million 
and a half miners, railwaymen and transport workers would 
probably have found allies. It would not take much to bring out 
the electrical workers, the engineering and shipbuilding trades, and 
all the organized vehicular workers. If food ran short, from 
whatever cause, the men would have marched to the food — with 
unimaginable consequences if they were stopped by the carefully 
planned military cordons which the War Office had prepared. If 
the Government had, to use Mr. Bonar Law's words, used all its 
resources to put down what it would have regarded as civil war, 
and had, in some unforeseeable way, succeeded, it would probably 
have kindled such a flame of industrial rebellion, or at least set 
smoldering such a persistent resentment, as would have had po- 
litical as well as industrial consequences that no man can measure. 
The Government should remember that there might be such a 
thing as a " stay in " strike, to which beaten men, smarting under 
a sense of injustice, are apt to resort, even against all the efforts 
of their Trade Unions. If, on the other hand, the whole kingdom 
was smitten with paralysis by a month's lack of coal — and even 
an omnipotent Government cannot get any considerable quantity 
of coal hewn without the hewers — and the Ministry had been 
driven to accept (as, in our opinion, — which we expressed last 
week — would have happened) the terms dictated by the workmen's 
Executive Committees, this country would have come very near 
to the end of Parliamentary Government. Once the strike had 
started, it could not have ended, whatever the result, without the 
gravest national disaster. 



150 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

On the same theme, Mr. Robert Williams, Secretary of the 
National Federation of Transport Workers, and therefore one 
of the big chiefs of the Triple Alliance, speaks with authority : 

l 

The Triple Industrial Alliance is by far the greatest attempt 
made in this or any other country to win for the workers " Tem- 
poral Power." One can hardly say whether we shall see it in 
use during the next few weeks: that is a matter for speculation. 
A prominent member of the sub-committee of six once remarked 
that the Alliance could be used only on one occasion. He meant 
that if it failed, it would be useless for all time; whereas, if used 
with success, it would leave the working class masters of the 
industrial and political situation. 

I am not sure that I am quite in agreement with that prophecy. 
For instance, the Triple Alliance has been tested during the war. 
It is fairly well known that the politicians had made up their 
minds to introduce 300,000 colored indentured laborers into this 
country in 1917 to relieve more of our own workers for the or- 
ganized butchery in France and Flanders. That outrage, connived 
at by Mr. Lloyd George, was thwarted by the action of the Triple 
Alliance, and ships carrying the colored workers to be landed at 
Southampton were diverted to Marseilles. This at least shows 
that the Alliance can be used with some effect, although strike 
action was avoided by the capitulation of the Government. On the 
other hand, I can readily foresee the power of this organization 
used again and again without the workers establishing for them- 
selves economic freedom. Everything must depend upon the 
mental, as well as the industrial preparedness at any given time 
when action is contemplated. 

That quotation shows Mr. Williams in one of his two 
moods — his mood of careful statement. As in Belgium and 
Switzerland, you have to understand two languages in order 
to know what the shindig is really about, and where the mean- 
ing lies. Mr. Williams (like many another Briton) is some- 
times loud on the hustings, but always cautious in committee. 
He hangs a " To Let " sign on Buckingham Palace, and re- 
turns to work out the patient details of a wage increase for 
port and harbor employees. And because a trade of his fed j 



THE WAY THEY DO IT 151 

eration has pledged its word, he helps in the dreary committee 
work of an industrial council for one of his trades, although 
he has no great faith in the blessed word of Whitley. There 
is Ramsay MacDonald, the prize orator of internationalists, 
than whom there is no more canny, responsible man on foreign 
affairs in Downing Street. 

The British like to be energized by loud explosions into a 
dignified, sure-footed motion. They carry a shock absorber 
which lets the machine bump rocks without jarring the occu- 
pants. They have a gyroscope which sucks up all the careen- 
ing and holds a steady keel. But do not think that the tide 
isn't running with a brisk wind and splashy waves. In high 
excitement, American newspaper correspondents ferried over 
from France when the British miners struck. 

" The big show is on," they said, " the social revolution has 
come." 

And then I saw only one of them in daily attendance at 
the Coal Commission, where the social revolution was taking 
place. The shock absorber and the gyroscope were at work, 
so that Mr. Justice Sankey did not seem to be continuing the 
tradition of Robespierre. The landowners lost their minerals, 
but nobody lost his head. Fires still burn, though the miners 
have taken over an additional $150,000,000 a year. 



CHAPTER II 

GENTLE REVOLUTION 

i 

The workers have the instinct for property. And a hundred 
years of experience with " private enterprise " has led them 
to believe that under it there is no reasonable chance of prop- 
erty owning for the majority of workers. 

They desire a reasonable reward for hard work, initiative, 
and thrift. And " private enterprise," they are convinced, fails 
to give that reward to the mass of producers, because it ear- 
marks the reward for the small group of financing and mar- 
keting agents, and for absentee capital. 1 

They claim that the man willing to work should be permit- 
ted to work. And they know that the organization of industry 
under " private enterprise " has carried with it a " fringe of 
unemployment/' that from 2 to 10 per cent of willing workers 
are periodically out of work. 

They wish production. And they have often seen " private 
enterprise " defeat their energy by undercutting in piece rates 

1 Management has been shockingly underpaid in many British 
industries. 

The following figures relate to 57 per cen . of the collieries in the 
United Kingdom : 

Salary, including Bonus and Number of Managers 

value of House and Coal 1913 1919 

£100 or less 4 2 

£101 to £200 134 3 

£201 to £300 280 29 

£301 to £400 164 251 

£401 to £500 81 213 

£501 to £600 51 146 

£601 to £700 27 75 

Over £700 23 77 

152 



GENTLE REVOLUTION 153 

the increment of productivity which they make. They have 
seen " private enterprise " restrict output — not according to 
the need of the consumer, nor according to the laws of pro- 
duction for use, but in relation to the prices of the market — 
prices based on a system of private profits. 

They believe that prosperous (that is, well-paid producers) 
are the best consumers, and are themselves the best market. 
They believe that under-consumption is the disease of " pri- 
vate enterprise." 

In short, the workers will no longer work for unrestricted 
" private enterprise," with its profits for a small group, its 
competing interests (and consequent lack of unified, efficient 
management), its failure to instal modern machinery and to 
use scientific research, its underpay, overwork, bad housing, 
preventable accidents, proletarian disease, and its negation of 
constitutional government in industry. 

As the Times says : 

We are, in truth, in the throes of a national crisis not less 
fateful and in some respects more dangerous than the war from 
which we have just emerged unscathed as a nation. This crisis 
has not been created by the war. We were drawing towards it 
before the war. 

And again: 

The truth is that we are passing already through a social revo- 
lution. Psychologically, indeed, it has been accomplished, not 
completely, but sufficiently to warrant the word " revolution." 
Most people perceive that a social turnover, which has changed 
the status of classes and their relation, has occurred, but they are 
puzzled and confused about it. Some regard it as temporary and 
expect to see it pass; they underrate its significance. Others mis- 
read it in another way. They see in it an opportunity for realizing 
some theoretical form of society which happens to appeal to them. 
They would narrow it to some particular end of their own. 
Others, again, are simply bent on getting as much as they can 
out of it. The labor questions are part of these confused and 
half-conscious aspirations, which imply a tremendous clash of 



154 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

interests. The process of settling them means the translation of 
the revolution already subjectively half accomplished into denned 
and concrete forms which will possess stability and permanence. 
It is a gigantic business, needing clear vision and calm thinking, 
for it is all new. 

What is the nature of the revolution? 
Mr. James H. Thomas, head of the railwaymen, has an- 
swered : 

The demands of the workers can be summarized under four 
heads — first, shorter hours; second, higher wages; third, share in 
control ; and fourth, the nation to own those things that are essen- 
tial to the life of the nation, such as transport and mines. 

The first two demands are to abolish poverty and its ef- 
fects. The last two are to establish freedom. 

On hours, the sub-committee of the Industrial Conference 
obtained the unanimous vote of the employers, on a univer- 
sal forty-eight-hour week. The miners have obtained a 
seven-hour day (in two years, with certain provisos, a six- 
hour day). Lord Leverhulme is preaching a six-hour day, 
and installing it in his plant. A forty-seven-hour week has 
come into force throughout the engineering and shipbuilding 
trades. A forty-eight-hour week is not an eight-hour day. 
An eight-hour day is a forty-four-hour week (Saturday half 
holiday). This will be the second step of which the Indus- 
trial Conference demand is the first. Lord Leverhulme's six- 
hour day may be the third step in the national program. 1 

On wages, the sub-committee of the Industrial Conference, 
with a unanimous vote of the employers, has declared for a 
basic minimum wage. The workers demand that war wages 
be made permanent. 

As regards joint control, the Government is committed to 
the principle by the Whitley reports. The workers have no 
desire (after the war experience) for bureaucratic control of 

1 But hours have never been fully studied — the proper day, not for 
a month or year, but for the working life, and the differential accord- 
ing to occupation. 



GENTLE REVOLUTION 155 

capitalist enterprise. They wish public ownership, direct ad- 
ministration, local government, and joint control. It is worth 
while to define exactly what is meant by joint control. Mr. 
G. D. H. Cole was chosen Secretary of the Trade Union Rep- 
resentatives of the Industrial Conference. In the report 
which he and Arthur Henderson signed, it is stated that " the 
Whitley scheme, in so far as it has been adopted, has done 
little or nothing to satisfy " the demand for " a real share in 
industrial control." 
Elsewhere he has stated: 

It is a great mistake to think that the miners or the railwaymen 
want merely the adoption of the Whitley Report. The railway- 
men — including both the National Union of Railwaymen and the 
Railway Clerks' Association — have rejected the Whitley Report, 
and the miners have shown not the smallest desire for its adop- 
tion in their own case. The sort of control which these bodies 
have in mind is something different, and something which, to the 
ordinary business man, will seem far more " revolutionary." For, 
whereas the Whitley Report merely secures the full recognition 
of the right of collective bargaining, without in any way changing 
the status of the parties to the bargain, the miners and the rail- 
waymen are seeking a real share in control. 

What, then, do the miners mean exactly by this share in con- 
trol? They mean at least two things, and to each of these 
things they attach the greatest possible importance. In the first 
place, they want equal representation on the national Commis- 
sion or Committee which exercises central and general control 
over the mining industry; and, in the second place, they want 
equal representation upon committees exercising control over par- 
ticular pits. 

It would be wrong to regard these demands merely as the re- 
sult of "extremist" agitation. Indeed, the "extremists" are 
seeking not joint control, but complete and exclusive control of 
the whole mining industry as a part of a general and compre- 
hensive social revolution. 

This demand must be sharply distinguished from that of 
exclusive control by the manual workers : a demand by a small 



156 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

percentage only of the workers. Mr. Smillie has made this 
distinction clear. To Mr. Lloyd George, on February 21, 1919, 
he said: 

There is no miner in this Miners' Executive of ours who has 
any desire to do anything for the purpose of wantonly interfering 
with the industries of this country. But, although the newspapers 
pay particular attention to some of us, pointing out that I, for 
one, am a Syndicalist, who wishes to take the mines over for the 
miners and work them for the interests of the miners and not 
of the State, that is absolutely untrue; neither is there any mem- 
ber of the executive committee of this Federation, as far as I 
know, who has any such idea. Our desire is to have the mines 
nationalized, taken over and worked in the interests of the State, 
in order that there may be — and we know there can be — not 
merely an enormous addition to the output, but a considerable 
reduction in the cost if the State were working the mines. 

Mr. Vernon Hartshorn is miners' agent in South Wales, 
member of the Executive of the Miners' Federation, and mem- 
ber of Parliament. On this point of nationalization and joint 
control he said : 

At the present time, the miners are in a frame of mind in which 
they are prepared to treat fairly and recognize all the interests 
that have grown up in industry. But if these demands are not 
granted, Syndicalism, or, if you like to call it, Bolshevism, will 
take the place of the demands the miners are putting forward 
at the present time. 

This demand for joint control must be equally distinguished 
from that modified control which would begin and end with 
welfare devices, social outings, and working conditions in the 
sense of lavatory accommodation. This is the kind of " joint 
control " which a delegation of American business men thought 
they found in the North of England. 

To the Coal Commission, Emil Davies, general manager of 
the Banking Corporation, financier, economist, and London 
County Councilor, testified to the need for joint control as a 
brake on the revolutionary movement: 



GENTLE REVOLUTION 157 

I think the psychological effect upon the miner of these big 
dividends and of these capital bonuses is bad for the nation and 
bad for the industry. I think it is quite conceivable that the 
miners or railway workers might ask more than the conditions 
of the industry justify, but so long as these men see big dividends 
and, every few years, a lot of bonus shares which makes the 
dividend look smaller than it really is, and every two or three 
years they see new shares being offered below the market price, 
and they find a lot of local people holding a few hundred shares 
making hundreds of pounds, they think naturally that the industry 
is making millions. Let these profits be pooled over the whole 
industry, as they would be if the industry were nationalized, and 
let the men have their representatives on the Board of Manage- 
ment so that they know there is no hankey-pankey, and it would 
be possible to show the miners and railway workers that there 
did come a point when they were asking more than the industry 
could stand. My point is, and I am thinking of the trade and 
industry of this country, that so long as the present state of things 
goes on you will not get the men into what you would call a rea- 
sonable frame of mind. 

Towards nationalization the first steps have been taken. 
The competitive private profits system has been three times 
in the year officially condemned by distinguished captains of 
industry, appointed by the Government. The Coal Commis- 
sion's report — as accepted by the Government — was signed 
by Mr. Justice Sankey, Mr. Arthur Balfour (managing di- 
rector of steel works at Sheffield, and former Master Cutler), 
Sir Arthur Duckham (engineer, Director of Aircraft Produc- 
tion, and of the Ministry of Munitions), Sir Thomas Royr'en 
(shipowner, railway and bank director). 

Their report states : 

The present system of ownership and working in the coal in- 
dustry stands condemned, and some other system must be sub- 
stituted for it, either nationalization or a method of unification 
by national purchase and or by joint control. 

Sir Richard Redmayne, the Government's principal coal 
official, states : 



158 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

That the present system of individual ownership of collieries 
is extravagant and wasteful, whether viewed from the point of 
view of the coal mining industry as a whole or from the national 
point of view, is, I think, generally accepted. 

Speaking for the Government on the system of transporta- 
tion and the supply of power (railways, waterways, canals, 
roads), Sir Eric Geddes, Minister of Ways and Communica- 
tions, has stated to the House of Commons : 

In the past, private interest made for development, but to-day, 
I think I may say, it makes for colossal waste. 

We must forego the luxuries of competition, we must forego 
private interest and local interest in the interest of the State. 

It would be nothing short of criminal to let the old system of 
competition between light railways and roads, railways and canals, 
and between different docks go on. You must make one block of 
capital do the work now, not two. You cannot afford it. 

Of course this will come as a shock to some idealists who 
believe in individualist effort. We all have our dreams, and many 
of us have our dream islands which we think of in the morning 
before we get up. I have no doubt that the dream island of the 
trader is full of courteous railway canvassers offering cheap fares, 
light rates, and fast special trains. But when he has had his cold 
bath in the morning that goes. And this is a cold bath which the 
country has got to take. The transportation agencies of the coun- 
try to-day are barren and paralyzed, and we have got to get them 
right. Therefore I feel sure that if the House decides, the era 
of competition is gone. It must logically put every means of 
transportation under the one control and you must not leave out 
anything, otherwise you will have competition immediately, and 
you have got to trust somebody or some one to get co-ordination 
and the fullest possible utilization of everything the country 
possesses. 

The day of private enterprise and private profits in public 
utilities is ended, because the workers demand a higher mo- 
tive for production than the creation of wealth for a few. 
It is misleading to write of Whitley Councils and the Indus- 
trial Councils, as if they were love feasts where capitalist 



GENTLE REVOLUTION 159 

employers and workers have seated themselves in amity, with 
a common aim and a new spirit. 

The new spirit in labor is to abolish poverty and to win 
freedom. Mr. R. W. Cooper, the coal owner, asked Mr. 
Straker, of the Miners' Executive, the most searching ques- 
tion since Pilate's. He asked the miner, " What is freedom ? " 

And Mr. Straker answered : 

" So long as men are what they are, they desire to 
know and understand that which affects their own life 
so closely. 

Cooper: "You will agree that if a man feels he is getting his 
fair share of the produce of his labour he will be satis- 
fied from the domestic or comfort side of the question." 

Straker: "I suppose that would satisfy him. If he were get- 
ting his fair share he ought not to have any more." 

Cooper : " Is there any other aspect of the matter upon which 
he would desire to be satisfied?" 

Straker : " The desire that every true man has to be free." 

Cooper : " In what sense do the men desire to be more free 
than now ? " 

Straker : " There is a freedom of the mind, ever seeking to 
understand. Otherwise a man would be no better than 
a brute." 

Cooper : " There I agree with you that his mind should be 
free. But in what way do you suggest that a miner's 
mind is not free?" 

Straker: "The opportunity for knowledge of the industry they 
are engaged in." 

Cooper: "What knowledge do they desire to have of the 
industry ? " 

Straker: "The commercial side of it." 

Cooper: "I have dealt with that." 

Straker: "You have only dealt with the cost." 

Cooper: "And the profits?" 

Straker : " How those profits are made." 

Cooper: " What else is there ? " 

Straker: "The men object to these profits being collected by 
any few individuals." 

Cooper : " What difference does it make to him whether the 



160 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

profits are made by the few or the many or the collec- 
tive body called the State ? " 

Straker : " Because he realizes now that he is a citizen of the 
State." 

Cooper : " Do you really think either you or I feel our citizen- 
ship any greater because the Post Office of this country 
is run by the Government and not by somebody else ? " 

Straker : " Most decidedly." 

Cooper: "You surprise me." 



CHAPTER III 

GENTLE REVOLUTION 

ii 

That British instinct for compromise and social change which 
has often saved the State from disaster is once again at work. 
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle recently stated : 

Some critic has finely said that if the Day of Judgment were 
to come, a British non-com. officer would still be found imploring 
his neighbors not to get the wind up. 

Violence, mental excitement, overstatement, the British 
shrink from. The Latin motto, " Nothing that is violent en- 
dures," could well be their motto. They wrangle, and at the 
eleventh hour compromise. But the compromise will not be 
made on the basis of the status quo. 

No paper in England is keener than the Daily Mail in scent- 
ing where the chase is going. After the Coal Commission it 
said: 

We do not know how many colliery shareholders would be 
needed to do the work of a million miners, but we imagine that 
if they desire to maintain the principle of private ownership in 
national necessities after this crisis, they will have to get together 
and dig promptly and vigorously. 

National ownership does not necessarily involve Civil Service 
management. But it does mean the elimination of what the men 
dislike intensely — namely, working under hard conditions and at 
the risk of their lives for private profit. As we have often said 
in these columns, the contrast between the lives of the men who 
get the coal and the lives of those who get the profits is too great. 

161 



162 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

Mr. J. R. Clynes writes : 

For the temporary purposes of war private interests had to 
give way. For the permanent purposes of peaceful reconstruc- 
tion private interests must also give way. It is only upon this 
basis that real and beneficial changes can be effected. The com- 
munity must have means to protect itself against personal self- 
seeking, and if State supervision or co-operative action in trans- 
port or other agencies can give us a higher level of efficiency than 
we now have, many forms of competition must be relegated to the 
stage of a past age, and must no longer be tolerated upon any 
ground of the individual profit previously enjoyed. 

That excellent organ of the Unionists, the Observer (on 
April 13, 1919), says: 

Men like Clynes could have been kept in the Government. Men 
like Mr. J. H. Thomas or Mr. Henderson could have been brought 
into it, or brought back to it. How? We pointed out at the 
beginning of December and before the General Election that the 
proper thing was to face the inevitable in time. Ministers were 
bound to consent to the nationalization of transport. They would 
find themselves compelled to nationalize the electric power to 
drive the transport. How then could they avoid nationalizing 
the mines — the fuel which provides the power? These things 
hung together. They made the great Triad of national recon- 
struction after war. 

Now the Government is doing under pressure what it would 
not do for political reasons. It has been kicked, pushed, and bun- 
dled towards nationalization of the inseparable Triad — transport, 
driving-power, fuel — without being able now to gain any of the 
political advantages that timely action would have secured. 

And again: 

They (the workers) are not to be satisfied even by the largest 
sort of multifarious program not stamped by any leading idea 
showing in its greatness some proportion to the upraised and 
mighty spirit in which this people engaged in Armageddon. They 
are not too grateful for even the biggest things of a quite in- 
evitable kind. 



GENTLE REVOLUTION 163 

Housing on a heroic scale, the new organization of public 
health, the unified handling of national transport, land settlement, 
land acquisition by the cheapest and most rapid processes which 
can be devised without treating the land-owning interest more 
unfairly than any other — all these necessary things, splendid as 
they are, the country would have expected from any Government 
whatever. From Mr. Lloyd George the country expected some- 
thing far more. It wanted a policy not only improving vastly 
the old order, but laying definitely the foundations of a quite 
new order. 

By this summary of quotations from conservative 
sources, I am seeking to show that Britain has accepted the 
" social revolution." The condemnation of private enterprise 
in public utilities is widespread. The next step is how to take 
over these vast public services. 

The power of setting the pace and the direction of social 
change has passed out of the hands of the Coalition Govern- 
ment into the hands of such men as Smillie, Hodges, Clynes, 
and Henderson. Smillie has been the indisputable leader of 
the industrial movement. He (because of the organized min- 
ers) was the driving force which was slowly carrying Britain 
over from a society of classes into a society based on economic 
equality. Henderson and Clynes are the politically minded 
leaders, who will formulate the methods by which that change 
will be constitutionally made. The men are complementary. 
Smillie and Hodges will occasionally outrun the general pub- 
lic (though not the rank and file of labor). Henderson and 
Clynes see how to transmute the mass momentum into legis- 
lative proposals which will win public opinion. The loss of 
any of these men would be serious, because it would tend to 
throw the now irresistible but wisely moving industrial forces 
into violence. They are bulwarks of order, and against Brit- 
ish order and method and constitutional adaptation the Euro- 
pean storm as yet beats in vain. 

" Each side cares more for order than for its program," 
said Mr. Bertrand Russell to me. 

After the brilliant pamphlet, Labor and the New Social 



164 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

Order, Americans expected an evangelistic sweep by British 
workers, like the Victory Loan and prohibition and Billy Sun- 
day. But the British believe that a crusade always means a 
slump. So they go on permeating the community, steadily 
gaining, and what they grasp they hold. They are indifferent 
to loud applause for their spectacular hits and indifferent 
to impatience with their dour slowness. They have been a 
hundred years on the present task. They are willing to de- 
vote a few more years to the job. They care not at all for 
comments from the side-lines. They are not running a movie 
show of social revolution. They are patiently on the way to 
industrial democracy. 

In labor conferences there is a flare of wrath, and then 
the group is shaking with laughter. All the time, humor 
plays over the gathering: a sharp wrangle, and then it is 
emptied of intensity by a jovial thrust. Thus, the delegate 
from Paddington, suffering from a sense of grievance, had a 
voice like a siren, and would not be comforted. Another dele- 
gate said, " I move that he be absolutely eliminated," and the 
incident was over. 

It is in humor where the English nature comes through to 
expression. The head of an aircraft factory said recently: 

A smaller explosion than the Russian may occur here, but it 
will be a humorous one if we have it. It is not fair to give the 
show away, but the British working man has a very keen sense 
of humor. He is realizing it is not a difficult matter to get 
what he wants, and I think he will get it quite readily. 

He went on to describe the social change as " the humorous 
revolution." 

British workers are sometimes like small boys who ring 
the front-door bell and from an area watch the gouty house- 
holder come in pajamas and with a candle. And when they 
find he is trembling with fear and rage, they never let him 
sleep again. 

If some of the governing and employing class were not so 
deadly earnest about the sacredness of property and their 



GENTLE REVOLUTION 165 

rights as a master class, there would not be half the fun in 
shocking them. When the Duke of Northumberland and the 
Saturday Review call Mr. Smillie and Mr. Webb robbers, the 
joke is so good that labor goes on with it. If the titled wit- 
nesses had joined in the laugh on themselves at the Coal Com- 
mission, that part of the joke would be shorter lived. But 
when their organs, the Morning Post, the Outlook, the Sat- 
urday Review, and the Globe (under its old management), de- 
clared that the Earl of Durham, the Marquis of Londonderry, 
and the Duke of Northumberland had proved themselves well- 
nigh the equal in wit and dialectics of Mr. Smillie, and that 
noble blood could produce personalities as resourceful as 
those from the coal pits of Lanarkshire, there was a Carroll- 
like quality that called for more heads off. At least a flicker 
of this humor will be needed to understand the British social 
revolution. 

The Government is learning its lesson from disastrous by- 
elections and the blows of the Triple Alliance that useful de- 
vices for conciliation, slow-moving bits of moderate social 
reform, and modified conscription, must not be used as sub- 
stitutes for peace and a new social order. J. L. Garvin, that 
responsible Conservative friend of Mr. Lloyd George, de- 
scribes the situation more severely : " He has let his genius 
get itself up to the armpits in a quagmire of opportunism and 
contradiction," and speaks of "the Prime Minister's increas- 
ing absorption in practical shifts and contrivances to serve 
the immediate emergency." 

The first compromises have been made. Better machinery 
for negotiation has been set up. Some employers are already 
enlightened. The trade-union leaders are constitutionalists. 
Ninety-nine per cent of the workers desire to carry through 
without bloodshed or anarchy. 

i. The immediate crisis has been partially met. 

2. The fundamental causes of unrest have not been dealt 

with. 

3. Means have not been devised to deal with these funda- 

mentals. 



166 THE WAY THEY DO IT 

4. Reasonable time will be required and granted to con- 

struct the machinery of transition. 

5. The " big battle " will therefore be postponed, while 

the immediate necessary work of reconstruction is 
carried on. Peace, food, and work are wanted. 
The present extemporized machinery of negotiation is use- 
ful for two purposes : 

1. It will help to tide Britain over the present crisis of 

demobilization, unemployment, and maladjustment. 

2. It will afford a debating club and a technique of dicker- 

ing, when (after these months of acute strain) the 
fundamental questions are being discussed. 

What has become ever clearer in war days and the unde- 
fined days since, is a nation's need of political capacity as 
distinct from executive capacity and business capacity. It is 
not what is the most efficient thing as seen by the military, 
revolutionary, administrative, business, or scientific mind, 
working in an ideal world, but what is the possible thing in a 
society of forty million human beings. Scientific manage- 
ment, high production, industrial conferences, commissions, 
and Whitley schemes, will not alone solve the tangle. Na- 
tionalization of public utilities, joint control, the limitation of 
private profits, a high standard of living for the producers, 
production for the use of the consumers, the elimination of 
unemployment, and democratic finance are the solutions. 
These fundamental changes are in their nature political. It 
is not a machinery of conciliation that is chiefly demanded. 
It is a fundamental economic change to be accomplished by 
legislation. The day of reckoning up the costs of the War 
has been postponed. When the cost is faced, and strikes 
recur, there is only one method that will save England in con- 
stitutional government. And that is a Parliament obedient 
to the will of the people, enacting laws to express that will. 
It is too late in history to elect Coalition, Tory, Reactionary 
ministries. 

Back of housing, health, and education lies the need for a 
more widely distributed wealth. It is the poverty of the 



GENTLE REVOLUTION 167 

workers that is the creator of bad conditions. The remedy is 
in part fiscal. By taxation, wealth must be more widely dis- 
tributed. Then a more equal society will demand, create, and 
receive the conditions of life that include reforms in housing, 
health, and education. The British will submit to these 
changes, because they see it is better to work a change con- 
stitutionally than to shatter the scheme of things. They 
recognize that the change must be drastically and swiftly 
provided for. They are preparing for the economic change in 
the same spirit in which the Parliament of last century voted 
a franchise extension which destroyed its own majority. The 
British are politically minded. They will carry over the 
bridge that leads from capitalism to an equalitarian society 
much precious freight. They mean to carry economic stabil- 
ity and prosperity across with them, and achieve a radical 
social change constitutionally rather than by violence. In the 
process of this change, taxation will be an instrument of 
Government. 

To the Coal Commission Sidney Webb said: 

" My idea of a Socialist State is one where there is a great deal 
more private property than now. Ten million families would have 
property, and therefore there would be more accumulated capital." 



SECTION FOUR 
WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

CHAPTER I 

WORKERS' CONTROL 

By Frank Hodges, Secretary of the Miners' Federation of 
Great Britain 

[Frank Hodges is the most powerful young man in Britain. 
He is Secretary of the Miners' Federation. He was born at 
Chepstow in 1888. At fourteen he was at work in a Mon- 
mouthshire colliery. At twenty years of age he won a min- 
ers' district scholarship for a course at Ruskin College, Ox- 
ford. In 1909 he and .other young class-conscious students 
revolted against the teaching, and founded the Central Labor 
College, where the revolutionary germ could be intensified. 
Later, he went to France and learned the language, and then 
he studied the organization of the C. G. T., the Federation 
of Trade Unions. 

He returned to his life as a Welsh miner, and at twenty- 
five years of age was elected miners' agent — a position of 
power. From that he became a member of the Executive of 
the South Wales Miners, and so to his present job, where he 
and Smillie have ruled the most potent industrial union in 
the world. He is a convinced believer that the industrial 
power of trades unionism is so great that the change to the 
Socialist State, with workers' control, can be made peaceably, 
in the next " ten, fifteen, twenty years." 

Hodges has the culture, the manners, the background, of a 
university man of the upper class. But he carries a con- 
sciousness of the delegated power of a million working men. 

His dangers will be those called out by so youthful and as- 

169 



170 i WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

tonishing a career: bitterness, conceit, the flattery of the 
privileged destroying his belief in his mission and leading him 
into compromise.] 

I propose to establish a case for self-government of the coal 
mining industry. This question has a very practical import at 
the present moment. The discussion about the industry has 
passed beyond the mere academic, and so have the proposals 
for its reconstruction. In dealing with it one has to remem- 
ber it is rather a question of immediate politics, and any 
scheme that one would initiate has to bear relation to prac- 
ticability. It is no use now to describe broadly the industry 
under Guild Socialism. That would savor perhaps of an 
academic smack. What we have to do, is to discuss proposals 
for the government of the industry now, in the light of our 
own views, as to how the industry might ultimately be gov- 
erned. The coal industry is the most important in the coun- 
try, other than agriculture. I always place agriculture in the 
premier position because it carried along our social life before 
coal was discovered, and it will do so after coal has been 
fully exploited and used up, so that strictly speaking, coal oc- 
cupies the second place in our national life, because all mod- 
ern industries now in a state of mechanical development de- 
pend upon coal. It is true to say that its existence as an in- 
dustry of first-class importance is to some extent threatened. 
Oil is a realized fact, and if there are sufficient quantities of 
oil in the earth, with the application of scientific minds to the 
production of oil, it might hasten out the coal era in a shorter 
period than we are prepared to admit. 

It is an industry which I think, on the whole, has been 
fairly efficiently managed under private ownership. I say 
that with some qualification, because an industry can never 
be thoroughly efficiently managed under private ownership, 
but within its limitations it has been to a large extent a suc- 
cess. For example, on the productive side, it has managed 
to produce 287 million tons per annum, a remarkable achieve- 
ment in the British coal-field. It cannot be said that it was a 



WORKERS' CONTROL 171 

failure, if production reached such a tremendous figure. Be- 
cause it is really a difficult occupation. Coal is not easy to 
exploit, it has to be wrung out of the earth at great cost. We 
must give credit to private capitalism for having brought the 
technique of the industry up to a point where it was capable 
of producing such an amount as 287 millions per annum. 

In the year 1913 it apparently ceased to expand, and that is 
the point I think at which capitalism broke down in the in- 
dustry. There are many who will say, " Yes, that was due to 
the War." Well, apparently that is so, because the War has 
brought into existence rather new factors, or given point to 
factors already in existence, which have made for this de- 
parture from expansion, this contraction in the industry. In 
six years we are down in this industry by practically jo mil- 
lion tons — a great decline. Many factors have contributed to 
that decline. There has been a decline in technique, a decline 
in the physical means for producing, a decline in machinery, 
in rolling-stock, in the character of the underground workings. 
There has not been the same maintenance in the underground 
workings, which has made possible the continuance of output 
at the pre-war figure, but what has been the most marked fac- 
tor since 1914 is the awakening consciousness among the men 
engaged in the industry. I must give full weight to all con- 
tributory factors, otherwise I should not be a proper person to 
discuss the matter. But, having given full weight to all fac- 
tors, physical and technical, there is this remarkable factor, 
which has been accentuated during this War. This growing 
consciousness that all is not well in the industry: that the 
men engaged in the industry now, and their forefathers, have 
been bereft during the whole of their lives of anything like a 
voice in the direction of the industry. That fact has left the 
workman in a state of antagonism towards the system of con- 
trol. I would emphasize that as the principal factor which 
has made for the decline in the industry. (True, there has 
been a reduction in hours, the output per unit engaged is 
down; but one could give reasons for that, apart from this 
growing feeling which is more individual in its character than 



172 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

anything else.) It is the feeling of lack of position and re- 
sponsibility in the industry which has left this feeling of an- 
tagonism. If you cannot have co-operation in any industry 
between the technical people and the manual, you cannot ex- 
pect productivity. That feeling has been expressed very 
definitely in many ways for some time. I had sent to me a 
few days ago a copy of a scheme, a very remarkable scheme, 
propounded by South Wales miners, for the future control 
of the industry. 1 It was the work of extremely thoughtful 
men, and one could see in it a feeling of bitterness because of 
the complete detachment from the control of the industry by 
the men engaged in it. I studied that scheme, but could not 
accept it. At the same time, however, we have there an expres- 
sion in a more or less concrete form of the desires of men 
who have quite a distinct ambition for effective control in the 
industry itself. I am going to make a broad generalization. 
Until you give expression, or find avenues for this desire, the 
output will not materially increase. It will increase, it is true ; 
I think it must, because of the slight improvements that must 
take place in the technical and physical factors ; but the indus- 
try will never reach the pre-war position until the avenues 
are provided for this desire, which is very manifest among 
men in the industry. I use that South Wales scheme as an 
illustration of what is going on among the men. But this de- 
sire has found expression in broader aspects. It has been 
officially expressed by the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, 
which body, naturally, has to try to establish a scheme which, 
if put into actual operation, would in itself create an avenue 
or provide means by which their known desires could be at- 
tained. As most of you know, that scheme has been embodied 
in a definite bill 2 for, sooner or later, presentation to the 
House of Commons. That bill has been given a sort of legal 
color through the instrumentality of Mr. Slesser, barrister at 

1 " A Plan for the Democratic Control of the Mining Industry." 
Published by the Industrial Committee of the South Wales Socialist 
Society. 

2 The Miner's Bill for Nationalization. See Appendix. 



WORKERS' CONTROL 173 

law. Such a scheme, sooner or later, must have a legal col- 
oring. 

The Miners' Federation has refused the Government offer 
of workmen on the board of directors, under the capitalist 
system. They will not put workmen on the directorate either 
of a national council or of a district committee. They do 
not wish minority control with private ownership. 

I think for the first time in the history of the industry we 
have a scheme which makes provision for complete govern- 
ance of the industry by the people engaged in it. I do not 
know of any other industry that has yet evolved as complete 
a scheme as this. It has not been accepted by the Govern- 
ment, it is true. The scheme, which was agreed to, or sug- 
gested, by Mr. Justice Sankey, 1 is by no means as complete 
as this scheme, but it is a step towards it, and in order to 
give you an idea as to the character of it, it will be just as 
well to make a comparison between this and the Sankey 
scheme. 

The scheme for the future governance of the mining in- 
dustry, as expressed in the Miners' Federation Bill, was a 
scheme which divided the industry up into parts, intended to 
remove it entirely from the domain of bureaucratic influence. 
The industry is national in its character, and therefore the 
machinery for its governance must be so. It is suggested that 
the industry shall be, in the first place, a national asset. It 
shall be owned by the nation. Of course, the Government 
themselves have decided that minerals shall be owned by the 
nation, presumably because that did not conflict with the 
capital interests already in the industry. If it had, I do not 
think the Government would have been quite so ready to 
nationalize other people's property as they were. But they 
have not accepted, in fact they have rejected, the scheme for 
the national ownership of the industry as an asset on the 
productive side. That was the basis upon which the whole 
of our scheme rests — that the mines as well as the industry 

1 The Final Report of Mr. Justice Sankey. See Appendix, Section Four. 



174 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

must be national property. Unlike the syndicalist scheme, it 
is not intended that the industry shall be owned by the peo- 
ple engaged in it. That is anti-social in character, and would 
sooner or later, if effected by force, break up. For Syndical- 
ism the majority of British workers have no desire. If the 
workers used a particular commodity (like coal) for the pur- 
pose of holding up the community and smashing the system 
at one stroke, the result would be that some substitute com- 
modity would be found. The workers prefer a series of steps 
leading towards the goal, to a holocaust that would cause 
universal suffering. The social aspect of this scheme is seen 
in the fact that the industry and the raw material — the coal — 
must be national assets, but the production must not be con- 
trolled and determined by the Government. On the contrary, 
the Government will have by no means a controlling voice in 
the industry. We suggested that one-half of what we call a 
National Mining Council should be people directly appointed 
by the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, the other half 
to be composed of technical experts, commercial men, and the 
remaining one or two to be the nominees of Parliament itself, 
so that there will be a definite link between Parliament and 
the industry through the Parliamentary nominees and through 
the Minister of Mines. Now that, of course, presupposes 
a good deal. The Miners' Federation of Great Britain is not 
at present sufficiently powerful or comprehensive to have 
within its ranks the technical workers engaged in the industry. 
It has only made provision so far in a limited way for a man- 
agerial staff. There has been great prejudice against the 
managerial staff, to some extent warranted, caused by pres- 
sure constantly brought to bear upon the managers by inter- 
fering boards of directors. I am not quite sure even now 
whether the Miners' Federation of Great Britain are suffi- 
ciently removed from that old influence to permit of the tech- 
nical staff, the brain-workers, having complete access to the 
federation and thus to become members of that organization. 
It is regrettable, but a fact which must be taken into consid- 
eration. The technical workers of the Mining Council could 



WORKERS' CONTROL 175 

not at present be directly appointed by the Miners 5 Federa- 
tion. It is a fact that sooner or later we shall arrive at that 
stage when technical men, men of great ability due to their 
natural qualities and to their careful and elaborate education, 
will be able to come in. When we make provision for them 
to come in, we shall be jointly in a position to nominate our- 
selves the personnel of the National Council. Even if our own 
scheme came into operation, we should have to leave very 
largely the appointment of the technical staff to the Man- 
agers* Unions, as they exist to-day, small and ill-defined in 
character, or we should have to leave their appointment to the 
Ministry of Mines. That is the immediate stage — we shall 
have to go through that. The Miners* Federation Bill made 
provision for that. It must be agreed that that is a weakness 
in any such scheme if the technical men have to be appointed 
by bodies outside the industry. 

The Sankey scheme, on the other hand, does not permit of 
anything like that representation, even of the Miners* Fed- 
eration, upon the council. It is true, the Sankey scheme 
makes provision for the National Mining Council. It would 
remove from the industry the influence of capital, sharehold- 
ers, etc. It is true, there would be a Minister of Mines 
under the Sankey scheme, but as the Miners' Federation could 
not appoint the technical workers, the representation on the 
National Mining Council would not be as to one-half the 
representatives of the industry and the other half represen- 
tatives of the nation; less than half would be the representa- 
tives of the men engaged in the industry, whilst it would give a 
preponderance to the Government, the consumers. The Gov- 
ernment says, if we appoint people to act on the National Min- 
ing Council, they will be there in a representative capacity 
and will represent the consumers. I am not prepared to make 
that inference from the appointment of Government nomi- 
nees. Anyhow, even under the Sankey scheme, which we 
think should be adopted, there is provision for the election 
of representatives of the workers in the industry, acting on 
that national body, both on the manual and the technical 



176 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

side, which if realized must represent the greatest step for- 
ward yet attained, because these things only come into exist- 
ence upon the established fact that the influence of capitalism 
goes out. It might be argued that the Sankey scheme is more 
social in its character than even the Miners' Federation 
scheme, for a preponderance of the consumers or Govern- 
ment's representatives would indicate that the industry itself 
was controlled by, and subject to, the decisions of the people 
not engaged in the industry, and, therefore, of a very definitely 
social character. 

Well, the argument I would level against the criticism that 
the Miners' Federation scheme is anti-social is that as the 
workers, both technical and manual, get into definite control 
of a great industry, by having a preponderance of power, 
they would realize their dependence and interdependence upon 
other industries, and they would realize that any movement 
they might initiate which had for its object the raising of the 
condition of the men engaged in this industry, at the expense 
of men engaged in other industries, would be fatal. There 
would be a growing consciousness of that, because of the 
growing responsibility. 

After all, the miners cannot consume the coal they produce. 
It must be exchanged for the material things that go to make 
up a miner's life, and I should say that if the miners, because 
of their preponderance of influence, wanted to take a rise out 
of the community, the retaliation would be so immediate that 
they would not proceed. They would realize the interde- 
pendence of their industry on other industries in the country. 
That is a matter of education. 

If the National Mining Council represented all the control 
miners were going to have, one would say it is no different 
from what they have now. To elect five people out of over 
1,100,000 men to represent the rest would not be effective 
control. You will find that the delegation of their responsi- 
bilities by 1,100,000 men to five men would not be to provide 
anything like a personal interest to the 1,100,000. We will 
find that in any scheme we may propound, what we are up 



WORKERS' CONTROL 177 

against all the time is the apparent willingness to delegate 
responsibility to others, and it is natural that that should be 
so; and yet one deplores it. To see the readiness that men 
have in them to delegate responsibility to other people, and 
at the same time to criticize those other people for not carry- 
ing out the work efficiently, often makes one pessimistic. 
Happily, that is not all the control contemplated. If that were 
all I should not be advocating it. There is devolution in the 
scheme of control for the governance of this industry. Devo- 
lution, because only with it can you get individual freedom to 
the individual man. 

Theorists have spoken of various motivations for work — 
" the motive of public service," the " incentive of citizenship 
in an industrial democracy." But these excellent ideals will 
only be realized in many years, through universal education. 
But the incentive on which we of the Miners' Federation rely 
is more practical than these. The miner realizes increasingly 
the need of producing coal, in order to exchange it for other 
commodities which he wishes for a good life. His interest is 
not in raising wages with prices going up and outdistancing 
wages. His interest is in working out a relationship with all 
other workers, which will bring in to him a flow of goods, in 
return for his own product. The maximum of production (in 
relation to short hours and health) is to his interest. 

What the miner wishes, if I understand him, is a moral 
relationship to his fellows. That means security, status, 
where his work — the product of it — goes to them for their 
use ; and their products come to him, and all for the creation 
of a good life. For true property — the property which a man's 
personality inhabits — home and heirlooms — the miners have 
a strong desire. But they are curiously lacking in any ac- 
quisitive instinct, any desire for heaping up possessions. 

The second stage in our scheme for the governance of the 
coal-mining industry is to create district councils. The 
functions of the National Mining Council would be in the 
direction of determining how the industry is to be developed, 
to determine such things as national surveys of the coal-fields, 



178 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

and, through the medium of their experts, very largely of 
allotting areas in the country in which new pits had to be sunk. 
They would be the persons to determine the annual output of 
coal, to determine the price of the coal, and to determine the 
various qualities of the coal that had to be consumed in par- 
ticular ways. They would also deal with the finance of the 
industry. It is contemplated that the finances shall be deter- 
mined by the National Mining Council as distinct from the 
Exchequer. It is also suggested that a sinking fund should 
be founded by the National Mining Council to meet the de- 
preciation of machinery, etc. It would also determine, 
through representation from authorities beneath, what econ- 
omies of a national character could be effected in the indus- 
try. Also what surplus, after the sinking fund had been es- 
tablished, could go into the National Exchequer to provide 
social amenities. It would be the connecting link between 
the industry and the nation. 

But in the District Mining Councils, it is contemplated that 
they should be more or less in keeping with the existing 
district or geographical areas. For example, there would be 
a District Council for South Wales, for the Midlands, Staffs, 
North Wales, Derby, etc. These District Mining Councils 
under our scheme would be largely composed in the same 
manner as the National Mining Council, i.e., one-half directly 
elected in that district by men engaged in the district— and 
as you will not have immediately an industrial union, the 
other official unions would expect to have a voice in deciding 
who should represent them technically. There would also be 
representatives of the National Mining Council on the District 
Mining Council. They would function in this way. They 
would be responsible for carrying out the broad policy laid 
down for the district by the National Mining Council. It 
would know the output expected to be produced from its 
area; it would know the different classes of coal in these 
areas which were to be directed into the different channels 
of consumption. There would be no interference by the 
National Mining Council in the internal administration of 



WORKERS' CONTROL 179 

that district. There would be no overbearing interference 
from the central authority because largely the general terms 
agreed to by the National Mining Council have been already 
agreed to by the people in the District Councils. They would 
be left largely to work out for themselves the efficient produc- 
tion of coal in their particular area. They would be respon- 
sible for the mechanical improvements in the mines in their 
district. They would make suggestions as to the type of ma- 
chinery that should be used, and would have regard to the 
adaptability of certain positions of the coal-field to certain 
types of exploitation and would determine where central pump- 
ing stations or central generating stations should be erected. 
They would not determine wages, but see that the wages in 
their areas corresponded with the wages in the other areas. 
In fact, wages would be largely co-ordinated by the Central 
Mining Council, which would be a very desirable thing. 

The same criticism applies to the District Mining Council as 
to the National Mining Council. In South Wales there are 
250,000 men engaged in the mining industry. If a district 
council was comprised of ten properly elected representatives 
of the workers, exclusive of the technical representatives, it 
would not be quite satisfactory, I am sure, if that were to be 
regarded as the full degree of control that these 250,000 men 
had in the industry. It is this desire to get away from the 
notion that other men should govern for the majority that 
we are constantly insisting upon. 

Behind the District Mining Councils, fifteen of which I 
think would largely cover the industry, we have the pit or 
colliery committees. Now the colliery committees are the best 
means, the most democratic means, by which the mass of the 
workers can express themselves. The miners might express 
themselves only once in five years or once in three years when 
they were electing their nominees to sit upon the National 
Mining Council, and only once a year when they appointed 
their representatives on the District Council. Under this 
scheme they can express themselves every day at the colliery. 
For at the colliery it is contemplated that there should be set 



180 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

up a Pit Committee comprised exclusively of the managerial 
and manual workers — the technical and the manual workers. 

The manager by legislation has been made legally respon- 
sible by the Government to the Government for the " govern- 
ance of the mine." His powers and duties are explicit in the 
matter of safety. The manager under workers' control would 
be responsible to the Pit Committee. On a disputed matter, 
he would probably have the right of appeal against the work- 
ers to the District Committee. He would be the elected, the 
delegated, representative of the workers, in executive control 
of them. He would have the same sanctions, the same author- 
ity which the trade-union official has to-day. It is the respon- 
sibility, the authority, of the delegated person. 

Jointly, they would be responsible for the good governance 
of that mine. They would work to try to get their particular 
pit to come up to the productiveness under the regulations laid 
down for it by the District Mining Council. Suppose a dis- 
trict council were to say that Pit A, with its six seams of 
coal in operation, could produce i,5QO tons of coal a day, and 
that after due consideration has been given to the geographical 
position of that mine, the disturbance in the coal seams and 
strata generally, that particular mine could produce coal at a 
definite cost. The committee at that particular colliery Would 
have for its object the production of coal up to that amount, 
and at that cost. There would be no need to increase above 
that figure, because, if so, that would disturb the general pro- 
ductivity for that particular area, and the result would be 
that having produced an excess for that area they might find 
the cost, later on, would have been increased per ton because 
of the depreciation that sets in as a result of having unneces- 
sary idle days at the colliery. They would be a joint body 
responsible not only for production but for their own safety 
in that mine. Instead of, as now, the Government having 
to appoint mine inspectors to see that a mine is being properly 
conducted in accordance with the Mines Regulation Act, and 
instead of the managers of collieries having to appoint what 
are known as deputies or examiners to see that a mine is 



WORKERS' CONTROL 181 

working in such a way as to give the maximum security to 
the men consistent with production at the maximum profit, 
it would be the business of this committee working with the 
men to see that every man should be responsible for his own 
safety, or to appoint safety inspectors responsible to the com- 
mittee. We would then bring into our circle a larger and 
larger group of men, as we invest them with that responsi- 
bility. .They would have to be educated to understand that 
in an ever-widening circle, they had a particular task to per- 
form, and they would then soon understand the essential 
purpose of that task. They would see that it was their busi- 
ness to get their fixed quota of coal from that particular col- 
liery, with the maximum security of the men engaged, at the 
minimum cost of production. It may be urged that this is 
too much to hope for — that the men are only interested in 
drawing their wages, that they do not mind what the output 
is, that they are not concerned as to the general conditions of 
safety, that they do not mind the cost of production. How 
can we expect them to change from that mental attitude to 
the one I have described? To elect their Pit Committees, to 
put forward ideals, both on the managerial side and on the 
manual side — how can we expect such a change can take 
place without considerable chaos? I do not think the jump 
will be quite so sudden, because of the lack of self-reliance, 
due to no fault of the miners. As a matter of fact, they are 
educated to the average point of working-class education if 
not rather above; but they have not yet been blessed with 
the opportunities of getting that kind of education which 
could lift them out of the influence of the wage-system 
mentality. That will all be a question of time before we can 
get the most insignificant man at a colliery to take an active 
part or to assume active responsibility in his work. That will 
take time — ten, fifteen, twenty years, but after all, that is 
not much in the history of the working class, and certainly it 
is a short time as compared with the history of the wage sys- 
tem. First of all, there would be a ready willingness to dele- 
gate responsibility to their Pit Committee, but as they grew in 



182 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

experience of the work of their Pit Committees, so would their 
social outlook grow, and as that grows so will their willing- 
ness grow to accept responsibility; so will their interest grow. 
Sometimes I feel that there is a great mountain of indiffer- 
ence even in the mining movement. I know the reason for 
that indifference. But it can be reduced to smaller and smaller 
proportions, even though men act blindly in the initial stages 
in electing men to control their pit. Out of the most deplor- 
able willingness to delegate responsibility to others will come 
an increasing reluctance to delegate responsibility to others. 
You will never have a state in society where you will not 
find responsibility delegated, but it will grow, in my judgment, 
smaller and smaller. We must expect the old willingness to 
delegate, to manifest itself under this scheme, but it will 
gradually disappear. That may be optimism, but it accounts 
for all my faith in the labor movement. It will get further 
away from the slave idea of delegating responsibility, but as 
long as the working class has that outlook they will be slaves. 

Workers' control is a means, and not an end. Work in the 
modern industrial world is unpleasant for the majority of 
workers. They will find their expression as human beings 
outside the working hours — in the use of leisure for family 
life, education, recreation, a hobby. Control they will use to 
get efficient management and machinery, with which to shorten 
hours to the minimum which is consistent with the essential 
work of high production. Control, they wish, to save them 
from the waste and insecurity and long hours of the present 
system, which leaves no secure and creative leisure. A mini- 
mum of work consistent with a production which will give suf- 
ficient commodities for a good life for all workers : they will 
use control to obtain that. But control will never of itself be 
an answer to the instincts thwarted by standardized machine 
industry. The answer will be found outside of working hours. 

I am quite sure that in this scheme for control of industry 
which I have had to sketch in very general terms in order to 
give, as it were, a general grasp of it, we will see how near 
that is to a concept of Guild Socialism. It is an attempt to 



WORKERS' CONTROL 183 

establish it, but it would certainly not result in Guild Social- 
ism, but in a Guild. We must have all our essential industries 
as guilds before we can have Guild Socialism. Progress will 
be accelerated in the other industries in proportion as this 
scheme is successful. It must inevitably be successful, though 
we must go through much trouble before we reach our goal. I 
would have people consider these definitely constructive ideas 
as applied to coal-mining, because they have for their object 
the bringing into the industry the active participation of every 
man engaged in it. These ideas are of a social character, not 
anti-social in any way, and only along these lines can we have 
real industrial democracy. 



CHAPTER II 

THE SHOP STEWARDS AND WORKERS' 
COMMITTEE MOVEMENT 

By J. T. Murphy 

[Mr. Murphy is chairman of the Sheffield Workers' Com- 
mittee and has been one of the dozen leaders of the shop 
stewards' movement in Great Britain. By general consent of 
those in the movement he is regarded as the most brilliant 
" extreme left " interpreter of their aims, methods, and struc- 
ture. At present, the unofficial shop stewards' movement is 
at ebb tide, because of the percentage of unemployed in the 
metal trades. The man at the gate determines the status of 
the man at the bench. The official shop stewards' movement 
is in the position of having succeeded : it has won recognition. 

So the movement — official and unofficial — is for the mo- 
ment non-militant. It will resume and heighten its activity 
through the next five years. The shop stewards' movement 
is " official," when the trade unions are in executive power 
over the individual shop stewards and their committees. It 
is " unofficial " when it is elected regardless of craft, as rep- 
resentative of all grades of workers in an industrial group, 
when it acts extra-constitutionally of the trade unions, refusing 
to recognize the authority of the national and district union 
officials, and when it pursues " larger ends " than matters of 
welfare, output, and rates agreements — namely, " ever-increas- 
ing control of the workshp."] 

It is very questionable indeed whether the men who were re- 
sponsible for the creation of the position of shop steward 
within the trade unions anticipated the important part the 
shop stewards were destined to play in the history 

184 



THE SHOP STEWARDS 185 

of the working-class movement. For years, the shop 
stewards had been performing quite a subordinate part in 
their organizations, when suddenly they were swept into the 
limelight of great events. Statesmen interviewed them, met 
them in conference, and addressed meetings under their con- 
trol. The press abused them as agitators and the official 
trades-union leaders looked upon them with reproach. 

These incidents, however, were but the outward signs of 
the beginning of an epoch in the history of industrial labor 
organizations. Two important developments followed the 
outbreak of the War — an industrial revolution 1 on the one 
hand and legislative enactments which gagged the activities 
of the trades unions on the other. 

The further the industrial revolution proceeded the greater 
were the demands on the trades unions and the less capable 
were they of response. Of necessity, the problems were 
thrust back for solution to the places from which they arose, 
viz., the workshops, and hence the growth of the shop stew- 
ards and workers' committee movement. 

The outsider, prone to think in static terms, usually wants 
to know what kind of " organization " the " Workers' Com- 
mittee " happens to be, what is its structure, how many con- 
tributors there are to its funds, and so on. 

The student of labor organizations, however, will be well 
advised not to attempt to measure the righting strength or 
influence of this " movement " (I say movement advisedly) 
in these terms or he will make great mistakes in his estimates. 

There is a definite form of organization advocated and 
recognized, it is true, but only approximations, more or less 
remote, in existence. Briefly expounded, the structural as- 
pects of the movement are as follows : The unit of organiza- 
tion is the workshop or industrial group. In each workshop 
a committee of stewards or delegates is to be elected. These 
delegates should be elected as workers and not by trade, etc. 
Each workshop committee should elect a delegate to a 

1 New machinery, the scrapping of old practices and processes, the 
bringing in of dilutees. 



186 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

works committee. All the workshop committees in a local- 
ity should also have delegates to a local council or workers' 
committee, which is departmentalized according to industry. 

The national structure would be similar to the local work- 
ers' committee on a larger scale, thus giving national industry 
departments with their executive committees within a Na- 
tional Workers' Council or congress. 

The immediate significance and power of the committees 
varies from time to time as different crises arise. But the 
movement as a whole has greater significance than any of its 
immediate manifestations may appear to indicate. What that 
" greater significance " is will be clearer when we have ex- 
amined its growth and character. 

Prior to 1914 there were not many shop stewards, and 
what there were belonged mainly to the skilled organizations. 
Their functions consisted largely of examining pence cards 
of members, safeguarding the " trade " from encroachments 
by other sections of labor, keeping the shops clear of non- 
unionists as far as possible, sometimes taking grievances up 
and interviewing the foreman, or reporting matters to the 
trade-union branch. It will be clearly recognized, therefore, 
that to a very large section of trade unionists shop stewards 
were not unknown persons, although they might not all have 
troubled to elect them. The stewards also were not organ- 
ized as such, but were under the jurisdiction of their separate 
organizations. However, there were the elements in the 
workshops when the impetus to the industrial developments 
was given by the urgencies of war. 

These developments, it must be observed, were such that 
there was a general invasion of the trades by all kinds of 
what had been outside labor. The drastic changes involved 
were not long in producing trouble, but prior to the disputes 
on dilution the Clyde engineers were due to receive an ad- 
vance in wages in January, 191 5. They had been bound by 
a three years' agreement up to this date and had fallen behind 
other districts. The manoeuvering of the employers and the 
faint-hearted muddling of the officials over months of nego- 



THE SHOP STEWARDS 187 

tiations resulted in an unofficial strike. The organization thus 
brought into being became known later as the Clyde Workers' 
Committee. It was composed of stewards elected in the work- 
shops. In its early stages, there were delegates from engi- 
neers, 1 boilermakers, blacksmiths, shipwrights, coppersmiths, 
sheet iron workers, electrical trades, joiners and carpenters, 
gas and general workers, and coopers. Now it should be 
observed that these stewards or delegates might be officially 
or unofficially elected, but all combined together in the Clyde 
Workers' Committee which functioned unofficially. 

This duality has its obvious advantages and disadvantages. 
There is the possibility of complete unanimity on some par- 
ticular issue, of official and unofficial committees. There is 
the possibility, as in the dispute referred to, of complete rank 
and file opposition to the official body. 

Varying degrees of influence come between these two posi- 
tions, but the point to be observed is that at some moment, 
according to the nature of the crisis which may arise, the 
power of the unofficial committee may he equivalent to the 
sum-total of the trades-union membership in the locality. For 
example, at the time of the 191 5 Clyde dispute all the engi- 
neering shops of any note were affiliated, representing about 
45,000 workers. At a later date, however, when the Clyde 
Workers' Committee had extended its area of delegation and 
included delegates from Miners' Reform Committees, cap 
and hat workers, teachers, railwaymen, building trades, etc., 
whilst potentially it was much greater, it probably could not 
count on even 45,000 for immediate support. 

Being composed of delegates it reflects the degree and na- 
ture of the activity among the rank and file. If the latter are 
apathetic, the committee is correspondingly weak. If, also, 
the officials are responsive to the demands of the rank and file, 
the unofficial committee may be neglected, and the natural 
tactics adopted are those of combined effort. Individual mem- 
bership is only retained through the delegates except in small 
firms where little group organizations exist. To count the 

1 Engineers are machinists. 



188 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

individual membership at any moment is out of the question 
and would be worthless for estimating the power of the or- 
ganization. 

There it is, partly official, partly unofficial, taking all labor 
for its province, as sensitive to the life of the workshops, and 
factories, etc., as any organization can be. 

The details of the workshop organization vary, but vary as 
they may, the workshop is the unit of organization. Radiat- 
ing from the Clyde, committees^ of a similar character to the 
Clyde Workers' Committee have sprung up in Edinburgh, 
Invergordon, Aberdeen, Dundee, Dunfermline, Rosyth, Leith, 
Greenock, Kilmarnock, and Dumfries, and all of them send 
delegates to a Scottish council in Glasgow. 

Now it may be asked, what are the functions of these 
bodies? There are few activities which they do not pursue 
within the limits of the working-class struggle. They have 
fought on wages issues, on dilution of labor, on the raising of 
rents, were partly responsible for the English Rent Act, 
conducted extensive propaganda, fought on the political issues, 
and controlled a variety of matters in the workshop. They 
are loosely formed, potentially great in power, and sensitive 
to any issue which stirs the workers. Their rules, structure, 
principles, and objects read as follows: 

STRUCTURE 

The unit of organization shall be the Workshop Committee, 
composed of the stewards elected in the various departments. 

Stewards shall be elected, irrespective of the particular Trade 
Union they belong to. 

The Plant Committee shall be composed of representatives from 
the department committees. 

The local or district committee shall be composed of representa- 
tives from the various Plant Committees. 

The National Administrative Council shall be composed of an 
agreed-upon number of representatives, who shall be elected by 
ballot of the whole of the affiliated local Committees. 

No committee shall have executive power, all questions of policy 
and action being referred back to the rank and file. 



THE SHOP STEWARDS 189 

PRINCIPLES 

Direct representation from the workshop to Committees. 

The vesting of control of policy and action in the rank and file. 

OBJECTS 

To obtain an ever increasing control of workshop conditions, 
the regulation of the terms upon which the workers shall be em- 
ployed, the organization of the workers upon a class basis to 
prosecute the interests of the working class until the triumph of 
the workers is assured. 

SHOP RULES 

The employers shall have no jurisdiction over the election of 
any shop committee. 

The Stewards shall be the recognized medium to conduct any 
negotiations on workshop grievances. 

No individual bargaining shall take place between the workers 
and representatives of the employers. 

Any proposed changes to existing shop practices or conditions 
in the various departments shall be first notified to the stewards 
of the departments through the Secretary of the Works Com- 
mittee. 

Stewards and the requisite officers shall be elected for six 
months, and may be eligible for re-election. 

There shall be frequent shop meetings to report progress. 

All questions involving dispute shall be referred to the rank and 
file for mandate. 

The effect of this movement on official organizations will 
be seen when we deal with its growth in other centers. I 
have shown how the Clyde Workers' Committee arose in £ 
crisis arising out of a wages issue in 191 5. The next commit- 
tee I will use to illustrate the varying character of the move- 
ment is the Sheffield Workers' Committee. 

This did not come into being until early in 191 7. In fact, 
the Clyde Workers' Committee remained isolated for a con- 
siderable period, and it was not until the industrial changes 
and the call for the withdrawal of skilled workers for the 



190 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

army had aroused the English workers that there was any 
important development. The birth of the Sheffield Workers' 
Committee followed a crisis produced by the wrongful with- 
drawal of an engineer into the army. For some months 
strenuous efforts had been made to get the skilled engineers 
to elect stewards. What propaganda did not effect, the crisis 
accomplished. Within a fortnight the number of shop stew- 
ards elected officially rose to about 350. They were all mem- 
bers of the skilled organizations. The officials could not func- 
tion in the crisis and the stewards formed an unofficial stew- 
ards' committee. They struck work, won the issue, and this 
incident set the movement going in town after town. Imme- 
diately after the strike it was decided to invite the unskilled 
and women workers to organize with them, form workshop 
committees, and form the Sheffield Workers' Committee. 
This step was urged to control the dilution of labor, the prin- 
cipal idea being to enforce the payment of the proper rates of 
wages as the workers were transferred from one kind of 
labor to another. This committee grew in power, in the en- 
gineering industry primarily, until between 20,000 and 30,000 
engineering workers were associated with the committee. 
Again it must be observed that, although associate member- 
ship cards were issued, at no time in the history of the com- 
mittee did more than a few thousand contribute regular sub- 
scriptions. This committee extended itself to workers in 
other industries, such as building workers, tramway workers, 
and miners. 

Two important developments must now be observed. The 
extension of unofficialism and the reaction on the official or- 
ganizations. A crisis may unite many organizations. A crisis 
may also be a disintegrating force. The fight on military 
service united a number of skilled workers. The dilution 
issue brought these into line with semi-skilled laborers and 
women workers. The extension of dilution to other than war 
work, plus the further call for skilled workers for military 
service, divided them again and revived official activity, es- 
pecially in the skilled unions. 



THE SHOP STEWARDS 191 

This happened with the May strike of 1917 on the issues 
just mentioned. This strike was unofficial, though much of 
it was conducted by the local official committees acting un- 
constitutionally. It was a big strike, involving at one time 
about 200,000 workers. The Scottish workers did not join 
in, nor did all the English workers at the same time. It 
started in a few centers : Manchester, Sheffield, Coventry, and 
then spread to London, Luton, Southampton, Crayford, Bol- 
ton, Bradford, Leeds, Liverpool, Barrow. 

Afterwards stewards' committees sprang up in all direc- 
tions. A national conference was called in the Milton Hall, 
Manchester, in August, 1917, at which delegates attended 
from the following towns : Manchester, Barrow, Bolton, Brad- 
ford, Bristol, Chatham, Coventry, Crayford, Dalmuir, Els- 
wick, Halifax, Invergordon, Leigh (Lanes), Leeds, Liverpool, 
Newtoh-le-Willows, Salford, Stockport, Clyde, London, and 
Sheffield. 

A national committee was set up to co-ordinate the activi- 
ties of the local unofficial committees. Not all of these were 
workers' committees. They ranged from craft union steward 
committees to committees, such as the Clyde Workers' Com- 
mittee already described. 

The unconstitutional action of the official committees led 
to the formation of another national committee of engineering 
trades unions, and in the various localities attempts were made 
to combine the stewards and bring them wholly under official 
jurisdiction. This met with varying degrees of success. 

The Clyde Workers' Committee retained its complete inde- 
pendence of official control and stands to-day with much wider 
scope than ever before. The Sheffield Workers' Committee 
suffered. Officialism revived and took considerable strength 
from the Sheffield Workers' Committee, but was and is dis- 
organized in itself. A multitude of unions exist with no con- 
nected policy or organization. There may be hundreds of 
stewards (to obtain exact figures is impossible at present) 
among the 50,000 engineering workers there, but they are 
acting separately. 



192 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

The Sheffield Workers' Committee stands independent at 
low water mark among the engineering workers, but extend- 
ing in influence among the miners, tramwaymen, and the like, 
in and about the locality. So low an ebb did it reach that it 
had to resolve itself into practically a propagandist body of 
industrial unionists. Its extension to other industries than 
engineering is rapidly reviving its delegatory character. 

On the other hand, the Coventry workers have been de- 
veloped on different lines. Coventry is mainly an engineering 
center and the organization of the workers there was confined 
to engineering workers. From almost complete unofficialism 
it has swung in the opposite direction and carried with it a 
number of the features they were striving to obtain unoffi- 
cially. First of all, the engineering trade unions in the local- 
ity, embracing about 40,000 workers, formed the Coventry 
Engineering Joint Committee. The shop stewards at one 
time had their committee outside this, whilst still remaining 
members of the organizations. Now, however, the unofficial 
committee is confined to a few firms and in the rest, official 
control is exercised. 



SHOP RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR STEWARDS 

The shop rules and instructions to stewards by the trade 
unions are as follows: 

1. That the Coventry Engineering Joint Committee shall be the 
Executive Committee over all Shop Stewards and Works 
Committees affiliated. Any change of practice in any shop 
or Works must receive the consent of the Joint Engineering 
Committee before being accepted by the men concerned. 

2. That all nominees for Shop Stewards must be members of 
Societies affiliated to the C.E.J.C. (Coventry Engineering 
Joint Committee). 

3. Stewards shall be elected by ballot for a term not exceeding 
six months ; all retiring Stewards to be eligible for re-election. 

4. Each Section shall be able to elect a Steward, irrespective of 
Society. 



THE SHOP STEWARDS 193 

5. The Stewards of each Department shall elect a Chief Steward. 

6. The Chief Stewards of Departments shall constitute the 
Works Committee, who, if exceeding twelve in number, can 
appoint an Executive Committee of seven, including Chairman 
and Secretary. 

7. All Stewards shall have an official Steward's Card issued by- 
Joint Committee. 

8. Each Steward on being elected, and the same endorsed by his 
Society, the Joint Committee Secretary shall send him an 
official card. 

9. The Steward must examine any man's membership card who 
starts in the Shop in his Section. He should then advise 
the man to report to his respective Secretary, and give him 
any information required on rates and conditions, etc. There 
shall be a show of cards every month to ascertain if every 
member is a sound member, and if any member is in arrears 
eight weeks, he must report to the Chief Steward. 

10. If there is any doubt of any man not receiving the district 
rate of wages, the Steward can demand to examine pay 
ticket. 

11. Any member accepting a price or time basis for a job must 
hand record of same to his Section Steward, who shall keep 
a record of times and prices on his Section of any work, and 
hand the same to Chief Shop Steward. 

12. The Chief Steward shall keep a record of all times and prices 
recorded to him by Sections of his Department. On a Section 
being not represented, he shall see to the election of Steward 
for such Section. 

13. Any grievance arising on any Section must be reported to 
Chief Shop Steward, who shall, with Steward on Section and 
man concerned, interview foreman or manager. Failing re- 
dress, the Chief Steward then to report to the Works Com- 
mittee. 

14. The Works Committee shall be empowered to take any case 
of dispute before the Management, not less than three to 
act as deputation. 

15. On the Works Committee failing to come to any agreement 
with the Management, they must immediately report to the 
Engineering Joint Committee, who shall take up the matter 
with the Firm concerned, a representative of the Works Com- 



194 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

mittee to be one of the deputation. It is essential, pending 
negotiations, that no stoppage of work shall take place with- 
out the sanction of the Engineering Joint Committee. 

16. A full list of all Shop Stewards must be kept by the Joint 
Committee. Any change of Stewards must be reported to 
the Joint Committee's Secretary. 

17. The Joint Committee shall be empowered to call meetings 
of Stewards at any Works; also meetings of all Chief 
Stewards in the district when the Joint Committee so decides, 
if necessary. 

18. If, at any time of dispute, the Engineering Joint Committee 
decides upon withdrawal of its members from any Firm or 
Firms, the Stewards shall be issued a special official badge 
from this Committee with the idea of assisting to keep order, 
if necessary, in the interests of the members concerned. 

It should be noted that there are a few societies unattached 
to the joint committee, such as the draughtsmen and tool- 
makers. But these join with them on any important 
issues. 

There are about a dozen large firms in Coventry with works 
committees and in all about 400 stewards or delegates. At 
one time, in a crisis, there were 1,000 stewards. The differ- 
ence between these figures indicates the changes on the " un- 
rest " barometer. A further feature of great importance to 
every observer of the psychological changes in the working- 
class outlook and the future character of industrial organiza- 
tion is contained in Rule 4 : " Each section shall be able to 
elect a steward, irrespective of society." 

This had been advocated by the unofficial movement for 
some time, although in its early stages and in the majority 
of the committees to-day the structure of the shop commit- 
tees follows that outlined in The Workers' Committee} The 
writer readily agrees that the development is a sound one and 
experiments in several shops on the Clyde and in other places 
have justified the efforts in this direction. 

Wherever the sectional unions can be eliminated it is all to 

1 Pamphlet by J. T. Murphy. 



THE SHOP STEWARDS 195 

the good. Every crisis has proved that, wherever they are 
retained, whether in the workshop or out of it, in joint com- 
mittee, and the like, they act as disintegrating factors. The 
experience of the Coventry Engineering Joint Committee pro- 
vides a classic example in the embargo dispute of 1918. All 
the societies on the committee were agreed on the issue and 
yet two of the societies broke away and precipitated a sectional 
strike. 

Two features in the structural objectives are now clearly 
indicated. First, the all-embracing character of the move- 
ment, and second, its elimination of sectional unionism in the 
workshops. 

Turning our attention to the activities within the shops, as 
distinct from the harnessing of particular agitations, we have 
to observe the variations according to the degree of internal 
development of the workshop organization. 

It will be well to compare, therefore, the Coventry instruc- 
tions with the agreement arrived at between the trades unions 
and the Employers' Association: 

Copy of 

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT 

between 

ENGINEERING EMPLOYERS' FEDERATION 
and 

Steam Engine Makers' Society. 

United Machine Workers' Association. 

Society of Amalgamated Toolmakers, Engineers, and Machinists. 

United Kingdom Society of Amalgamated Smiths and Strikers. 

Electrical Trades Union. 

National Society Amalgamated Brassworkers and Metal Me- 
chanics. 

United Journeymen Brassfoimders, Fitters, Turners, Finishers, 
and Coppersmiths' Association of Great Britain and Ireland. 

Amalgamated Society of Coremakers of Great Britain and 
Ireland. 

Workers' Union. 



196 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

National Union of General Workers. 
National Amalgamated Union of Labor. 

National Amalgamated Union of Enginemen, Firemen, Me- 
chanics, and Electrical Workers. 

Blacksmiths and Ironworkers' Society. 

REGULATIONS REGARDING THE APPOINTMENT AND 
FUNCTIONS OF SHOP STEWARDS 

London, December 20, 1917. 

IT IS MUTUALLY AGREED AS FOLLOWS : 

With a view to amplifying the provisions for avoidance of 
disputes, it is agreed: 

1. The workmen who are members of the above named Trade 
Unions employed in a Federated establishment may appoint 
representatives from their own number to act on their behalf 
in accordance with the terms of the Agreement. 

2. The representatives shall be known as Shop Stewards. 

3. The method of election of Shop Stewards shall be determined 
by the Trade Unions concerned. Each Trade Union parties 
to this Agreement may appoint Shop Stewards. 

4. The names of the Shop Steward and the shop, or portion of 
shop, in which they are employed, and the Trade Union to 
which they belong, shall be intimated officially by the Trade 
Union concerned to the management on election. 

5. Shop Stewards shall be subject to the control of the Trade 
Union and shall act in accordance with the Rules and Regu- 
lations of the Trades Union and Agreements with employers, 
so far as these affect the relations between employers and 
workpeople. 

6. In connection with this Agreement, Shop Stewards shall be 
afforded facilities to deal with questions raised in the shop, 
or portion of the shop, in which they are employed. In the 
course of dealing with these questions, they may, with the 
previous consent of the management (such consent not to be 
unreasonably withheld), visit any other shop, or portion of a 
shop, in the establishment. In all other respects they shall 
conform to the same working conditions as their fellow- 
workmen. 

7. Employers and Shop Stewards shall not be entitled to enter 






THE SHOP STEWARDS .'; 197 

into any agreement inconsistent with agreements between the 
Engineering Employers' Federation or Local Associations and 
Trades Unions. 
8. The functions of Shop Stewards, so far as they are concerned 
with the avoidance of disputes, shall be exercised in accord- 
ance with the following procedure: 

(a) A workman or workmen desiring to raise any ques- 
tion in which he or they are directly concerned, shall 
in the first instance discuss the same with his or their 
foreman. 

(b) Failing settlement, the question shall, if desired, be 
taken up with the management by the appropriate Shop 
Steward and one of the workmen directly concerned. 

(c) If no settlement is arrived at, the question may, at the 
request of either party, be further considered at a 
meeting to be arranged between the management and 
the appropriate Shop Steward, together with a depu- 
tation of the workmen directly concerned. 

At this meeting the Organizing District Delegate 
may be present, in which event a representative of 
the Employers' Association shall also be present. 

(d) The question may thereafter be referred for further 
consideration in terms of the provisions for avoidance 
of disputes. 

(e) No stoppage of work shall take place until the question 
has been fully dealt with, in accordance with this 
Agreement and with the " Provisions for avoiding 
disputes." 

9. In the event of a question arising which affects more than 
one branch of trade, or more than one department of the 
works, the negotiations thereon shall be conducted by the 
management with the Shop Stewards concerned. Should the 
number of Shop Stewards concerned exceed seven, a depu- 
tation shall be appointed by them, not exceeding seven, for 
the purpose of the particular negotiation. 

10. Negotiations under this Agreement may be instituted either 
by the management or the workmen concerned. 

11. The recognition of Shop Stewards is accorded in order that 
a further safeguard may be provided against disputes arising 
between the employer* and their workpeople. 



198 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

12. Any question that may arise out of the operation of this 
Agreement shall be brought before the Executive of the 
Trade Unions concerned, or the Federation, as the case 
may be. 

The agreement retained the recognition of the individual 
societies inside the workshops as well as out. 

The Coventry Engineering Joint Committee has gone fur- 
ther and eliminated the division in the shop, and a number 
of firms have their works committee elected irrespective of 
society, whilst all their activities come under the control of 
the Engineering Joint Committee. The activities go a little 
further than those described in the agreement quoted and 
they come very close to the Whitley proposals. They meet 
the employers once a month and discuss anything for the 
comfort and welfare of the workpeople and ways and means 
for facilitating output. 

The unofficial committees take the trade-union rates agree- 
ments, etc., as something to be enforced as a minimum, using 
them simply as a means to larger ends. These larger ends, 
however, are what distinguish them from all the other com- 
mittees. 

They work for " an ever-increasing control of the work- 
shop " until all the functions of management pass into the 
hands of the working class as a means to the complete expro- 
priation of the employing class as such. These committees on 
their own cannot go further than the rest of the committees, 
but through their membership within the official committees 
and out of them, they perform several functions. They reach 
out to all sections of labor ; they are continually experimenting 
with details of organizations such as the elimination of sec- 
tional unionism in the shops, and they stand at the center of 
all movements in the localities where they have become thor- 
oughly established, capable of harnessing crises which may 
lead to revolutionary developments. 

In these features we recognize their relationship to indus- 
trial unionism of the various schools from the Chicago Con- 



THE SHOP STEWARDS 199 

vention of 1905 until now. The value of counting heads I 
have already commented on. Whilst there are National Com- 
mittees co-ordinating some twenty committees in England 
and some twelve ^committees in Scotland, this by no means 
represents the growth of the movement. Among the miners 
are scores of reform committees. Among the railwaymen 
are also many reform committees. These are not linked up 
with the rest whilst they are akin. 

As a movement it is therefore incapable of measurement 
with a yardstick. Its outward manifestations vary. A period 
of unemployment dissipates the strength of the unofficial com- 
mittees and consequently sends energy back again into official 
channels. A crisis may sweep official (particularly the local 
officials) and unofficial elements along together. In such a 
crisis the personnel of the unofficial committees may become, in 
the crisis, the personnel of the movement as a whole. For ex- 
ample, the writer was at one and the same time a member of 
a trade-union district committee, convener of stewards for 
the same trade union, and Secretary of the Workers' Commit- 
tee in the district. A crisis came. The official trade-union 
committee suspended themselves, and the stewards worked 
through the Workers' Committee. 

To sum up the position : the Workers' Committee movement 
is extending through the British labor movement and mani- 
festing itself in a variety of forms and directions. It is asso- 
ciated with definite revolutionary ideas, and is intent on abol- 
ishing capitalism. 

It is the result of the application of industrial unionist 
ideas to historically produced situations without a complete 
breakaway from the organized trade unions. Whether the 
complete merging of the trade unions and the complete 
adaptation to the demands of the epoch we have now entered 
can be accomplished rapidly enough is doubtful. Event fol- 
lows event so rapidly and old organizations are so slow to 
change that time may cast them on the scrap heap. 

Whichever may be the case, the ideas associated with the 
Workers' Committee have come to stay. If the official move- 



200 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

ment can adapt itself, then the nature of its adaptation will 
be on the lines indicated by the Workers' Committee. If it 
cannot, then the latter will win through unofficially. At 
least, the times appear to indicate such conclusions to the 
writer. 






CHAPTER III 

THEIR IDEAS 

By J. T. Murphy 

[This chapter is on the ideas, the men, the instinctive mass 
movement, and the economic conditions, which have helped 
to create and shape the small revolutionary wing of British 
labor, An American will note that the impulse has received 
a little of its earlier shaping from an American movement. 
This is natural, because a partially suppressed labor move- 
ment, such as that of unskilled labor in the United States, 
swings to the left. This chapter makes clear the philosophy 
that lies hidden in some of the shop stewards' movement. Mr. 
Murphy sets out the effect of political parties, educational 
classes, the propaganda of industrial unionism, and the syn- 
dicalists, on the growth of the unofficial industrial movement 
of Great Britain, including the shop stewards' movement. The 
shop stewards created during the War many of the workers' 
committees to which Mr. Murphy refers.] 

The long, steady growth of the trade-union movement in 
Great Britain has presented us with phenomena of such a char- 
acter that the industrial unionists, who set out to build new 
industrial unions to compete with and ultimately wipe out the 
trade unions, stood little chance of success. Every attempt to 
establish the I.W.W. on a large scale has failed. The organi- 
zation known as the Industrial Workers of Great Britain, 
which later changed its name to the Workers' International 
Industrial Union [Workers' Union], and stood for practically 
the same organization as the I.W.W., reached a member- 

201 



202 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

ship of about 4,000 at best. The Building Workers' Indus- 
trial Union has been subject to a similar fate, and for ex- 
actly the same reasons which determined the form and 
character of the Workers' Union. The pioneers of the 
Workers' Union — Tom Mann and Charles Duncan — looked 
to this union as an all-embracing union of the working 
class. 

But because there existed prior to its formation, large, 
stable organizations of skilled workers, whose vested interests 
and traditions had not yet been thoroughly disturbed, they 
could only absorb or enroll those workers who were outside 
these unions. Hence the Workers' Union became largely a 
union of general labor, unskilled and semi-skilled. That it 
enrolled numbers of skilled men is true, but ere long they 
were arranging agreements with skilled unions with regard 
to what is called poaching of members. The vested interests 
of the unions, such as out-of-work pay, superannuation, sick 
benefit, and so on, produced a conservatism which has been 
a considerable bulwark against the onslaughts of the I.W.W., 
the Industrial Workers of Great Britain, and such-like organi- 
zations. It must not be thought, however, that because these 
organizations are small that the propaganda of industrial 
unionism has had no effect. 

Since 1903, when the Social Democratic Federation split on 
the issue of industrial unionism, the small but vigorous body 
known as the Socialist Labor Party has carried on a persist- 
ent propaganda. Its principal center was Glasgow, and in 
this city the Industrial Workers of Great Britain thrived best, 
and here also probably more experiments have been tried in 
the application of the industrial unionist principles than in 
any other town in Britain. 

James Connolly, the Irish labor leader, who perished in 
the Easter rising, was one of the pioneers of industrial union- 
ism in Glasgow, and his pamphlet, Socialism Made Easy, is 
still widely sold. The Socialist Labor Party remained small in 
membership for a long time, but the small group of men who 



THEIR IDEAS 203 

were trained in their classes * have since played a prominent 
part in the struggles toward industrial unionism through the 
many industrial fights in Glasgow and elsewhere. 

The Socialist Labor Party started its own press, and from 
here have come incessantly for years thousands of Daniel De 
Leon's 2 pamphlets, and Kerr's social science and sociological 
publications. However insignificant the party membership 
may have been, the effect of the work of the press has been 
influential in the fermentation of ideas on industrial unionism. 

The Independent Labor Party has never stood for industrial 
unionism. The British Socialist Party did not, until a year 
ago it half-heartedly supported it. The tendency of these 
two political parties is to support trades unionism, and stress 
the conquest of Parliament. But through numbers of their 
branches the publications have circulated and a goodly number 
of the members of each party now propagate the Socialist 
Labor Party slogan. 

The Socialist Labor Party, from its inception, was so severe 
in its restrictions on the liberty of its members so far as 
theory and practice were concerned, that its development was 
retarded. Since the Russian Revolution and the many experi- 
ences of its members in the industrial conflicts of the last 

1 Under the tuition of T. Bell, editor of the Socialist, and ex- 
president of the Scottish Ironmolders, and T. Clarke of the Engi- 
neers, the classes have since played a prominent part in the struggle. 
In the classes, the works of Marx, Engels, Morgan, De Leon, were 
thoroughly studied. Hence we find the materialist conception of 
history stressed as a means to understand social movements, and 
industrial unionism offered as the solution to society's problems. 
From the classes came A. MacManus, chairman of the Shop Steward 
Workers' Committee, J. W. Muir, of the Clyde Workers' Committee, 
and W. Paul. The latter is not connected with the industrial move- 
ment. He is, however, a speaker of considerable ability, and has done 
much to spread the class movement in the Midlands. For a con- 
siderable period some of the speakers simply reflected De Leon, and 
it was not until they had passed through many experiences that we 
can see an independent direction given to the impulse towards indus- 
trial unionism, coincident with the peculiarities of British Labor 
History. 

2 See Appendix, Section 5, Chapter 2. 



204 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

four years, there has been a recasting of the constitution, 
which now recommends the same kind of industrial organiza- 
tion as the Workers' Committees. Their preamble reads, after 
making the same declaration with regard to the class struggle 
as that of the I.W.W., drawn up at the 1905 Chicago Con- 
vention, " The unit of organization industrially is the work- 
shop or yard committee, wherein the workers are organized 
as workers, irrespective of craft, grade, or sex. These com- 
mittees are co-ordinated by the formation of Works or Plant 
Committees, composed of delegates from each workshop or 
yard committee. The Plant or Works Committees are co- 
ordinated by delegates from each of these committees, in a 
village, town, city, or district, forming a Workers' Council, 
in which there are also delegates from the residential com- 
mittees, these latter being the units of the social aspects of the 
organization." * 

In addition to the Socialist Labor Party, there are the 
Workers' Socialist Federation, the British Socialist Party, and 
the Communist League, advocating practically the same struc- 
ture. Certain tactical differences exist between these organi- 
zations which are delaying the fusion of these bodies into a 
single Communist Party. When it is considered, too, that a 
section of the Independent Labor Party is working in accord 
with those mentioned, the amount of political propaganda, 
assisting the spread of the Workers' Committee ideas, will 
be recognized. However insignificant the outward structural 
appearances may be, the latent ideas among the organized 
workers are of no small volume. The outstanding figures of 
the British Socialist Party, so far as this workshop movement 
is concerned, are W. Gallacher and George Peet. They are 
known more by their activities in this movement than by 
their membership of a political party. Gallacher is the chair- 
man of the Clyde Workers' Committee. Peet is the national 
Secretary of the Workers' Committees. The activities of 
the political bodies, apart from the Socialist Labor Party, until 

iFor this development, no doubt A. MacManus, T. Bell, and J. T. 
Murphy are mainly responsible. 



THEIR IDEAS 205 

recently have been rather meager so far as industrial unionism 
is concerned. The Socialist Labor Party was largely cen- 
tered in Scotland, but nevertheless had an extensive influence. 
England has been subject to propaganda influences from two 
other directions, viz., the Central Labor College, 1 and syndi- 
calist propagandists, such as Tom Mann. With regard to 
the Labor College, which is now the possession of the Na- 
tional Union of Railwaymen and the South Wales Miners' 
Federation, the clear-cut Marxian teaching conducted there 
has resulted in the production of a number of active industrial 
unionists, who have gone back particularly to the Welsh coal- 
fields and exercised great influence. The students produce a 
magazine of their own called the Plebs Magazine, and by 
forming classes in many towns and districts, they give an 
impetus to working-class education. Every week hundreds of 
classes under the auspices either of the Labor College or 
the Socialist Labor Party, or some local Labor College 
group, now affiliated to the Labor College, are grappling with 
economics, industrial history, and like subjects. The effect 
was commented upon by the Government Commissioners of 
Industrial Unrest in 1917, particularly in South Wales. In 
nearly every large town classes, varying from thirty to eighty 
members, are attending several nights per week during the 
winter months. The writer, during the whole of last winter, 
for example, had two classes per week, with an average at- 
tendance of forty students. Other teachers were doing like- 
wise. Now, when it is remembered that these classes to which 
I refer are producing industrial unionist students capable of 
expressing themselves, it will be realized that weighty forces 
are persistently at work throughout the whole of the trade- 
union organizations, suggesting and applying the principles 
for which they stand. In South Wales in particular, men 
such as Noah Ablett, Reynolds, and Mainwaring, with many 
others, have succeeded in making marked advances in the 

1 Now, the Labor College. It has 27 students in residence, but 
through correspondence and tutorial classes, it reaches 6,000 students 
a year. 



206 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

direction of industrial unionism, not by creating a fresh or- 
ganization, but by modifying the existing organizations and 
bringing the South Wales Miners' Federation in part under 
their control. 

With regard to the syndicalists, Tom Mann 1 has been un- 

1 Tom Mann, regarded by many as the " Stormy Petrel " of the 
British Labor movement, has had a remarkable influence in several 
important directions. His efforts to organize the unskilled workers 
are well known. So also the part he played in the Dockers' strike of 
1889, and the transport strike of 191 1. His positive contributions lie 
in those directions, along with his amalgamation propaganda as exem- 
plified in his campaign for syndicalism. His anti-parliamentarism 
created a prejudice against him for a long time, which now becomes 
an asset, as the feeling against parliamentarism becomes more general. 
But for some reason he has not yet given, he entered and topped the 
poll in the Amalgamated Society of Engineers Parliamentary candi- 
date election. It is this apparent vacillation in tactics and his repeated 
appearance in unexpected quarters that have created a certain amount 
of distrust as to his capacity to hold the leading-strings of an organi- 
zation such as the A.S.E. He has tried to become General Secretary 
of this Society several times and failed, but he succeeded in getting 
this position in 1919. He likes the freedom of the " free-lance," to 
be a working-class gladiator in any part of the arena where the fight 
is raging, and whilst preaching organization chafes at the restraint 
which organization imposes. He has had a dramatic career, a wide 
experience, and is, besides being an agitator, capable of leadership. 
But any office will sit lightly upon him for the temperamental reasons 
I have indicated. At sixty-four he is full of vitality, and the glamor 
of the fight is upon him. He may head a revolutionary movement, he 
may finish his career as an agitator, but for him to settle down as a 
mundane official seems to those who know him as likely an event as 
to see him settle down as a poultry keeper. In any case he has ren- 
dered good service to the industrial unionist movement by his amalga- 
mation propaganda and his support of the Workers' Committees. 

Mann picked up American industrial ideas in Australia, and further 
studied syndicalism in France. On his return to England, he launched 
a powerful propaganda upon the public platform and through 
pamphlets and the press. He did much to popularize the idea of the 
shorter working day. 

He received an ovation at the Trades Union Congress of December, 
1919. As Secretary of the A.S.E., the king craft union, he is now 
inside the citadel, and his influence upon the machinists will be 
powerful in these critical years. 



THEIR IDEAS 207 

doubtedly the outstanding figure. But again the movement 
takes the form of propaganda for amalgamation of existing 
organizations. It is in the direction of amalgamation that 
industrial unionism has found expression in this country until 
the rise of the unofficial fighting workers' committees. There 
has been an amalgamation movement in the engineering in- 
dustry. The rise of the unofficial shop stewards' movement, 
however, meant the suppression of the amalgamation com- 
mittees. 

Such have been the main elements giving direction to the 
tendencies towards the modification of the industrial organi- 
zation of the working class. They have now undergone a 
marked change, and because they represent the advanced guard 
of the movement, with consciously formulated ideas, it is well 
that we should observe the character of the change. 

The 1905 I.W.W. Convention in America formulated a 
scheme of organization by industry. Each industry was to 
have its own particular union and these unions to be feder- 
ated into one big organization. The National Guildsmen 
of this country, as well as the old industrial unionists, still 
stand for this form of organization. It should be mentioned 
in passing that Cole and Mellor of the National Guilds League 
have helped considerably in the way of spreading these ideas 
among trade unionists. The change from this position since 
the Russian Revolution has been marked, and the left wing 
of the Socialist movement now express themselves more in 
terms of Communism. The quotation from the platform of 
the Socialist Labor Party indicates the difference. The Com- 
munists recognize the need of departmentalization according 
to industry, but insist on the industry being subordinate to 
the class character of organization. They therefore propa- 
gate a class organization with departments within it corre- 
sponding to industry. The difference may not appear to be 
much, but on close examination it is a matter deserving care- 
ful consideration. 

Organization by industry involves the recognition of each 
industry and each industry-union as a separate entity, and 



208 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

the executives thereof would be responsible to each industry's 
workers alone. It would tend to produce a psychology of a 
sectional character, too, in that the primary thought would 
be to defend one industry's workers against the others. 

On the other hand, the Communists urge that the class 
principle should be applied throughout, and just as all the 
workshop committees of any plant, whether composed of 
building workers, transport workers, or engineers, are united 
in the Works Committee, so also the works of a locality should 
be united in the Workers' Committee or Council. 1 Then any 
departmental committee set up would be responsible, not sim- 
ply to a department, but to the whole council. 

The rival scheme of organization in relation to the existing 
trade unions should be noted too. Organization by industry 
has its problems, there is no doubt. The National Union of 
Railwaymen approximates to an industry union; the miners 
are approximating it; the engineering workers, particularly 
the skilled workers, are trying to shape themselves in the same 
direction. Now there exists, at the same time, the General 
Workers' Union, the Workers' Union, the National Amalga- 
mated Union of Labor, which are about to be fused. All 
these have workers spread over quite a number of industries. 
If, therefore, organization by industry has to be established, 
this huge body of about a million workers will have to be 
divided up among those unions which approximate to the 
industry unions. 

The Communists, on the other hand, say Amalgamate 
them all into one big union, and make internal departments to 
meet any peculiar demands of industry. 

If it be asked how all these bodies, political, educational, 

1 The term " workers' committee " is applied when the strike com- 
mittee takes on a class character. Most of the committees come into 
being, either directly or indirectly, from strikes. The word "com- 
mittee" was used to distinguish it from the Trades Council. Perhaps 
" workers' council " will supersede " workers' committee." The British 
" workers' committee " is akin to the " workers' council " on the con- 
tinent, which is in part a standardization of the old extemporized 
strike committee. 



THEIR IDEAS 209 

propagandist, are related to the Workers' Committee move- 
ment, I have to answer that their literature is distributed in 
the workshops and trade-union branches; their propagandists 
address workshop meetings ; their classes are open to all work- 
ers, for the members of all these bodies are personally part of 
the industrial movement too. And it must not be forgotten 
that wherever the workers extend their organizations in the 
factories, wherever they assume responsibility, such activities 
stimulate the demand for classes, for literature, and the like. 

Whilst the political parties, the educational bodies, the 
propagandists, are directly contributing to the most revolu- 
tionary aspects of the working-class movement in every re- 
spect, there are other bodies more moderate in political out- 
look, who are nevertheless contributing to the structural 
developments. Ruskin College, the Independent Labor Party, 
the Workers' Educational Association, while not revolution- 
ary bodies, direct considerable attention to the established 
structure of the trade-union movement and its developments. 
The Whitley report proposals and all schemes immediately 
adaptable to the existing order, appeal to these members of 
the working-class movement. Their attempts to apply them 
bring them up against the structural problems of trade union- 
ism, and thus their practical experience compels them to 
contribute to the solution of the workers' difficulties on the 
very same lines as the extremists. 

A simple illustration will make this clear. They wish the 
workers to share in control of their conditions in workshop 
and factory. To effect that, they must shift their ground from 
the trade-union branch to the workshop. There, to have any 
organization at all, they must get the workers sufficiently in- 
terested to elect a shop committee. Immediately the problem 
of sectionalism is upon them. Experiment follows experi- 
ment to overcome the difficulties involved until it is eliminated. 
Thus are they doing the same thing as the extremists, viz., 
organizing the workshops and factories. The pressure of 
economic circumstances does the rest. 

For it must be clearly understood that, while all the efforts 



210 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

I have enumerated are going on, the workers as a whole 
have no conscious purpose. They do not visualize a new 
society and consciously march forward towards it. An ever- 
increasing minority do that as the economic struggle proceeds, 
but the mass moves intuitively, consequent on the pressure 
of circumstances. 

"If I am asked, "What England do the workers want? 
When? How?" I have to reply that very few indeed can do 
more than state general abstractions in answer to these ques- 
tions. 

The minorities of a people fight out consciously the differ- 
ent general concepts and methods. Meanwhile the social 
forces move, rise in their power, and the minority, conscious 
of the mightiest of these, anticipates it, interprets it, har- 
nesses it, marches on to victory. Through long periods there 
appears to be an equilibrium of forces and society appears 
static. But it is never so. The elements within it are ever 
moving and the periods of great change inevitably come again, 
not because of the wonderful ability of some particular person, 
or the conscious purpose of a people. They are moved by the 
simple concrete experiences of every day, and the interaction 
of these experiences produces mass movements which launch 
them all into mightier issues than they dreamed. Call them 
herd movements, if you will. Until humanity has evolved 
an organization of society which will uniformly express and 
satisfy the needs of humanity, and by its natural activity 
thrust responsibility in uniform fashion upon all its constitu- 
ent parts, so that a real social consciousness is developed, we 
shall witness these movements. They will be harnessed by 
minorities, express themselves through existing machinery as 
far as possible, but will not hesitate to create new machinery 
as circumstances press upon them and the old fails to respond. 

The political parties, the educational bodies, the propagan- 
dists, and their relationship to the elements of change within 
the industrial working-class movement, I have attempted to 
describe. The result is that we can see a structure developing 
and certain leading ideas coming to be focused. How these 



THEIR IDEAS 211 

ideas are going to be translated in actual programs has not yet 
been clearly defined by any one. What we do see at present, 
is a multitude of demands in terms of wages, and reduced 
hours of labor, and, coming more and more to the front, the 
two big issues of nationalization and control of industry (or, 
rather, part control). These two latter indicate the tendency 
to converge upon big things. Whatever ideas we may have on 
these, whether they be regarded as reformist or otherwise, the 
salient features of them are revolutionary in character, indi- 
cating the nearness of vast changes in social relationships. At 
the same time structural modifications are proceeding and 
every dispute produces elements which are contributory to 
the Workers' Committee organizations. These demand more 
detailed attention. But sufficient for the moment to have in- 
dicated the political, educational propagandist contributions to 
the new movement, and at the same time to have recognized 
the limitations of the visions of the people and the responsi- 
bilities upon the minorities. 



CHAPTER IV 

SELF-GOVERNMENT BY RAILWAYMEN 

By C. T. Cramp, President of the National Union 
of Railwaymen 

Mr. C. T. Cramp is President of the National Union of Rail- 
waymen, with 450,000 members. He and Mr. Thomas have 
just passed through successfully the railway strike in which 
the Government attempted to reduce wages from the war levels 
and failed. Mr. Cramp was educated at the Labor College, 
where economics are taught on a Marxian basis. Frank 
Hodges, Secretary of the Miners, is a graduate of the same 
college. Both men are Socialists with a fundamental belief in 
industrial unionism, which they are helping to carry out in their 
unions. The miners and the railwaymen are two of the most 
" radical " organizations in Great Britain. Mr. Cramp is very 
exactly a representative of his rank and file. 
In a recent talk, Mr. Cramp said to me : 

We have obtained a Ministry of Transport. That is perhaps 
in part the results of our demands for full workers' control. Hav- 
ing our Ministry of Transport, we have now presented our de- 
mands for control. We are urging a joint board which shall 
control all railways. One-half of the representatives will be ap- 
pointed by the unions, and one-half by the House of Commons. 
Their function will be not only the administration of conditions 
but the running of the whole concern. That means the admin- 
istration of the detail of traffic and also the administration of 
the commercial side. The unions will elect representatives to this 
Board of Control. But the election will not result in making these 
men permanent officials out of touch with their rank and file. 
They will be re-elected every three years. Under the Joint Board 
we shall have Area or District Boards. These Boards will deal 
with the administration of the principles laid down by the Central 

212 



SELF-GOVERNMENT BY RAILWAYMEN 213 

Joint Board. The Area Boards will in the same way contain 
representatives of the Government and of the men, half and 
half. For the Railway shops we shall have Shop Committees 
elected from the various grades. 

So the total organization will be a Central Board, District 
Boards, and Shop Committees, with the workers making up half 
the membership and the community represented by the other half. 

Up to the present time we have not negotiated anything tangible 
with the Government. Almost as soon as the Ministry of Trans- 
port took office we entered into conflict with them. We are hope- 
ful that within a few months we shall have succeeded in estab- 
lishing joint control by the workers. 

I have been interested in the Plumb Plan and I recognize the 
suggestiveness in giving separate representation to the manage- 
ment. But we feel that it is best first to get the principle of 
workers' control accepted, and second to get the central idea em- 
bodied in the new form of administration, and then later to 
go into details of arrangement if necessary. Until recently 
managerial directors were perhaps as a class hostile to the idea 
of joining with the workers in control. But the experience of 
the last year has convinced them that they too had something to 
gain by coming in with the manual worker. 

In any case, the recent strike struggle will have made it easier to 
get the principle of joint control accepted. Under State owner- 
ship and under joint control, we shall retain the right to strike, 
and we claim it as a full right. There will be no yielding on 
that point. For the settlement of disputes, we shall trust to the 
good sense of the management and the men. 

What we are building up is a new functional idea of the 
State. Geographical representation did not meet the full need. 
My personal opinion is that certain representatives in Parliament 
must be provided from the industries as industries, so that we 
shall have industrial representation. In that way we should have 
a body competent to decide on great industrial questions. 

In propagating the idea of workers' control, we have published 
articles in trade journals, made large numbers of platform 
speeches and appeared before Labor Congresses. We have not 
drawn up our demands in any sense of adjusting them to the 
ideology of capitalism. We ultimately want to destroy capitalism 
altogether. The influences that have strengthened the idea of 



214 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

workers' control were the revolt of a few years ago against 
excessive bureaucracy and State socialism. The propaganda of 
French syndicalism has something to do with the spread of the 
idea, and then such writing as appeared in the New Age x helped. 
The workers desired to devise a system of social control that 
would master slavery in the new form in which it was appearing, 
namely that of bureaucracy. So altogether there came the gath- 
ering of these new ideas and the shaping of them into our present 
demand for workers' control laid before the Premier. 

1 An organ of Guild Socialism. Compare these demands with the 
Government offer of 25% of advisory control. See Appendix, Sec- 
tion 4, Chapter 2. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ENGLAND THE WORKERS WANT— WHEN— 

HOW 

By Robert Smillie, of the Miners' Federation of 
Great Britain 

[This chapter is a digest of Mr. Smillie's conversations with 
the writer, letters to him, and public talks, corrected by him 
for use here. He answers the questions which many have been 
putting. What kind of society is it which the workers want ? 
When do they expect to begin to get it? How are they going 
about it? 

Mr. Smillie answers that they wish a Socialist society, which 
will not be bureaucratic, nor State socialistic. So, with every 
demand for nationalization, they include a demand for workers' 
control, which means decentralization of power. They expect 
to effect this change in society (of public ownership of the key 
industries and of land, with management by the workers) by a 
series of gains in Parliament, till finally they have a majority 
of seats, which will give them a labor Government. Then 
legislation will be passed which will establish the Socialist 
society. The method of this change is not by bloody revolu- 
tion, but by education and propaganda and votes. The philo- 
sophical statement of the goal is neither State Socialism nor 
Syndicalism, but Guild Socialism. Details of change have al- 
ready been made, and will continue to be made each month. 
But to bring to pass the real transfer of economic power to 
the workers will require " five, ten, fifteen years." * 

Such are in summary the views of the greatest labor leader 
of this generation.] 

1 This summary, also, has Mr. Smillie's approval as a statement of 
his position. 

215 



216 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

I discussed with a wealthy and Christian coal owner the other 
day the question of Socialism, and I told him it was 
absolutely impossible to square the Sermon on the Mount with 
present-day commercial conditions. My friend admitted that, 
but said, " Well, but we are in it and what are we to do ? " 
When I examined witnesses at the Coal Commission I had 
before me not only my little village in Lanarkshire, and the 
poverty and the miserable homes there, but the slums of the 
great cities and the palaces and the mansions of the idle class. 
Any one knowing the poverty of the people and the terrible con- 
ditions existing in the mining community for so many years and 
realizing that the robbing classes, " who toiled not, neither did 
they spin," had been living on the money that should have gone 
to feed, clothe, house, and educate his class, would be a knave 
and a traitor to his people if he did not keep it in mind, and 
let the other class know that he had not forgotten it. 

One who truly represents the workers has always before his 
eyes the misery, the infant mortality, the death rate, of his 
class, and the position of the upper class. Always he has in 
his vision this contrast. 

The Coal Commission gave me the opportunity of getting 
into respectable company. I had the opportunity of speaking 
with dukes. We were not introduced. Some of them in the 
witness-chair were not sure of their minimum living wage 
within a few thousands. But they were very nice. 

It has been alleged in certain quarters that I desired to score 
against those dukes. I had no such desire; but with my col- 
leagues I wished simply to arrive at the truth. We do not 
blame them as individuals at all, but the system of which they 
are a part is wrong, and we wanted them to come to give us 
the information desired, with a view to helping us to put it 
right. 

Dukes, earls, and marquises, as well as capitalists, are en- 
titled to be content, but the working people, landless and dis- 
possessed, and living in the slums, God never expected them to 
be content with these conditions. 

I am out to rouse the people to the dignity of man. It 



THE ENGLAND THE WORKERS WANT 217 

is not true to say that I am out to breed rebellion or bloody 
revolution if that can be avoided. Rather I wish to convince 
the people that it is their business to unite, by constitutional 
means if possible, to overturn the present system and enable 
the people to live happier lives. 

We are not going to sit down content with the present state 
of affairs. No man has the right to call himself a man who 
sits down contented with matters as they are. The vast 
majority of men and women and children are the exploited 
class who have never more than a fortnight or three weeks' 
savings to keep them going until another pay-time comes 
round. I have not been able to convince myself that one party 
should live on the best things which are produced, and the 
other party, the producers, continually be kept on the verge of 
starvation. As a child I was taught that it was God's doing. 
It is not God's doings, but man's doings. It is no use being 
discontented unless one spreads the discontent as far as one 
can. Five hundred peers own a third of this country, four 
thousand landlords own half, and the other half is held by 
the smaller people. If we could prove to any of those titled 
people, back to the time of William the Conqueror, that they 
had soiled their hands with honest toil, they would commit 
suicide. 

In recent years the younger generation of mine workers have 
had greater opportunities of at least an elementary education, 
and the schoolmaster has been abroad amongst them in the 
shape of what is sometimes termed the agitator, and it has set 
many of them thinking and asking themselves the question 
whether it is necessary for the mining population, which with 
its families numbers almost an eighth of the population of the 
country, to continue living practically on the verge of starva- 
tion, badly housed, and with no voice at all in the determina- 
tion of their own destiny. 

Up to recent years the mine owners (who, it is true, have 
latterly met the men's representatives and recognized their 
organization as a body to be negotiated with) declined to sup- 
ply any information about the inner working of the industrial 



218 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

concerns; and they have denied, in fact, the miners' right to 
question the justification of the enormous profits which were 
being earned in the trade whilst wages were continually kept 
down to the mere existence point. 

The thinkers amongst the miners have by persistent agitation 
amongst their fellows broadened the outlook of the minds 
of the mine workers, and have undoubtedly brought about the 
claims which have recently been promulgated for a higher 
standard of life and for a reorganization of the mining in- 
dustry on lines which would give the mine workers a voice in 
the industrial as well as the commercial side of the business. 

To put it quite plainly, they have arrived at the conclusion 
that the lives of mine workers which are invested in the mining 
industry ought to count on at least as high a plane as the 
capital which has been invested by the owners of the mines. 

My boys and your boys were " out there." x They were told 
they were fighting for the honor of their country. We can't 
afford to shed the blood of the young, when such as they can- 
not claim the land they have defended. Was it for their land 
that the lads laid down their lives and spilt their blood ? Was 
it really for their own land? No; but for the land of those 
people who are wrongly in possession of it, and who would 
never let them live a day unless payment is made of whatever 
blackmail may be agreed to. If we are still going to leave 
the land which the men have defended in the hands of a few 
people, and also retain conscription, it will mean that our lads 
have died in vain, and their blood will rise and cry out against 
us. 

The co-operators have recently been purchasing some land, 
but I am not out for a few acres of land for the co-operative 
movement ; I am out for the whole of the land of the country. 
I sometimes wonder if a millionaire can have a soul. It seems 
almost impossible that a man who is enormously wealthy can 
possess a soul and know that thousands of little children are 
dying from want and starvation in the slums, largely as the 
outcome of his possessions. The King and Queen are said to 

1 Mr. Smillie had two sons at the front. 



THE ENGLAND THE WORKERS WANT 219 

have visited the slums, but it is well known that they very 
seldom see a slum at all. Kings and Queens ought to have 
sufficient intelligence to know this. 

The worst feature of the Coal Commission was not the 
question of profiteering — and the Government was more guilty 
of profiteering than the employers were — it was the housing. 
The dreadful conditions disclosed were known to the ruling 
and possessing classes long ago, and they need not hold up 
their hands in holy horror now. The characteristic individual- 
istic movement was absolutely without soul. It is sometimes 
suggested that if the workers had decent homes they would 
not keep them clean, but when the workers withdraw their 
wives and daughters from service in the rich man's home, will 
that class keep their houses tidy ? Will the Countess keep her 
daughter clean? 

Feeling these things, I can't avoid giving expression to them. 
When I was a lad, I began to wonder why the Duke of Hamil- 
ton had two hundred thousand pounds a year, and I got fifteen 
bob a week. For doing nothing, he received a shilling on 
every ton of coal raised, and I got eleven pence for risking my 
life. 

We have willing and skilled workers, and a beautiful 
country. It is not God's fault at all that our people are not 
prosperous and happy. All that is needed is to organize the 
land and machinery to produce. Our workers will produce, if 
we get the guarantee that production is not to make million- 
aires, but to make comfortable happy homes. I want to pro- 
duce. The workers want to produce. 

But there never can be industrial peace until the land is 
nationalized, until the railways, mines, and key industries are 
nationalized; and until the workers have control of the con- 
ditions of their working life, along the lines of the Miners' 
Bill, and the railwaymen's demand. Whitley Councils are not 
what we mean, nor the National Industrial Conference, nor 
grievance committees. We mean control of all the processes, 
of discipline and management, commercial, financial — a joint 
control, half by all the workers, half by the State. The miners 



220 WHAT THE WORKERS WANT 

and their leaders attach the utmost importance to the question 
of the collective ownership of the mines, not so much in their 
own interests as in those of the general community. They feel 
that private ownership has failed to develop this great national 
industry on the lines on which it might have been developed, 
and that it is only by collective ownership that it is possible to 
introduce the reforms that are necessary to increase output 
and probably reduce the selling price of coal by improving the 
machinery of production. 

To do nothing, is an experiment, having bad results week 
by week. Reversion to pre-war conditions is an experiment 
fraught with grave peril, so we start from the assumption that 
some forward step must be taken. High productivity cannot 
be got without giving the workers a share in control. The 
problem is to reconcile the working classes with the State. 
It is a race between Socialism and revolution. Socialism is 
the only program of reconstruction that is offered. Against it 
are arrayed all the forces of disorganization. Socialism desires 
Government as the expression of the collective will and aspira- 
tion. In bringing it to pass, we wish to use the trade unions 
and the Political Labor Party as the forces. 

I think that an effort should now be made to spread the 
Triple Alliance idea beyond its present borders. There is really 
no reason why all the large and important unions should not 
be banded together for defensive purposes. I think that it 
will become the duty of this alliance ultimately to fight the 
question of conscription. Some of the trade union leaders 
have conceived and expressed their function as that of brake- 
men, to lessen the speed of the movement. Their job should 
be that of stoker, to bring fire and driving power. Those 
leaders signed away their executive power in the Treasury 
Agreement. 1 As a result, some of the unions are without 
leadership. The engineering unions should be the kings of 
the industrial movement. But, because of their internal dis- 
sensions, the Government does not consider them with the 

1 A war-time agreement of unions with the Government. Mr. 
Smillie kept his miners out of it. 



THE ENGLAND THE WORKERS WANT 221 

anxious solicitude which it gives the railwaymen, for example. 
Then too, some trade union leaders have rebuked local and 
district strikes as " unauthorized," but these strikes often are 
the result of a local grievance which should have been taken up 
and dealt with by the central executive. All this operates to 
separate the leaders from the rank and file. 

The working classes do not yet know what they can do. 
When they know that the power is theirs, in five, ten, fifteen 
years, there will be an avalanche. Then they will elect a labor 
Parliament and create a labor Government. In the County of 
Durham, already they have seen that they have the power, and 
they have obtained the majority of the county council, believing 
that the administration of the laws is as important as the 
making. When they awake to the knowledge of their power, 
they will possess Britain. A process of education is going on. 
The Coal Commission helped in this. For some years now, in 
peace time, there have been each week three to four thousand 
meetings a week throughout the island. From three to four 
thousand platforms, economics have been taught to the people. 
This will continue till they vote their way to power, unless in 
the meantime the privileged classes, alarmed at the progress 
made by labor, may precipitate a conflict which might end in 
revolution. 



SECTION FIVE 
PROBLEMS 

CHAPTER I 

WOMEN 

The women of the Labor Party held a conference at South- 
port on June 24th — the day before the Labor Party met. One 
hundred and fifty-four delegates were present. Miss Susan 
Lawrence, of the Labor Party Executive, and member of the 
London County Council, was in the chair. 

Mrs. M. E. Hart of Wigan came to the platform with loud 
applause. She is one of the three miners' wives who testified 
before the Coal Commission. Two members of the Commis- 
sion have stated that the Commission was unanimous on the 
point that the evidence of these women was of the best, being 
straightforward, to the point, and well given. The need of 
better housing and of pit-head baths — the matter of their 
evidence — was agreed on by the Commission. This was the 
first time that working women have given sworn testimony 
before a Statutory Commission. The Saturday Review, repre- 
senting the aristocracy and gentry, called their testimony 
" twaddle," and was deeply moved by the evidence of the 
Duke, Earl, and two Marquises, in behalf of their royalties. 
But the Commission was unanimous against the plea of the 
royalty owners and in favor of the plea of the miners' wives. 
Mrs. Hart is a strongly built, stout, apple-cheeked woman, with 
brown hair. She told the conference of her experience as a 
witness in the King's Robing Room. 

I was a little bit afraid, before I went in, because I expected 
to see a leading assembly, with a judge in the chair looking at 

223 



224. PROBLEMS 

me over his spectacles. I had never been in a House of Lords. 
But Mr. Justice Sankey, instead of being a severe judge, appeared 
to be a jolly-looking gentleman. He came and shook hands with 
us, and told us we did not need to be afraid, but just to talk to 
him. That is what I did. I thought to myself, " I'll give it you." 
We told him about back-to back houses, and the internal com- 
plaints of women caused by heavy weights. We told him of 
whole families in two rooms. I have seen eleven houses backing 
on one yard, with their refuse in one tub. The dust comes off 
from that tub like smoke. We want pit-head baths. We miners' 
wives want to be clean the same as gentlemen's wives. 

Mrs. Andrews of Rhondda, South Wales, another miner's 
wife, said: 

I investigated a case in the Rhondda Valley where the baby 
was born in a cellar, with the walls mildewing: the only place 
the family had to live and sleep in. I found out that the mine- 
owner — the employer of the baby's father — did not live near the 
mine — those mine-owners do not live near the place in which they 
get their money. He had his dogs living in kennels fitted with 
electric light. I do not want the dogs to have a worse time, but 
I want human beings to have as good a time as those dogs. 

Mrs. Despard is a tiny but stately old lady, with lace on her 
white hair. Under the eternal mist of England, she wears a 
long black rubber coat, which emphasizes the straightness of 
her gallant little figure, the lovely whiteness of her hair, and 
her eagle profile. She demanded that housing be made a 
national question, " as much as war." 

Dr. Marion Phillips is the chief woman officer (that means 
organizer) of the Labor Party. She is fitted for the long, 
hard job. The first impression she makes, which long acquaint- 
ance only strengthens, is that of wholesomeness and sanity. 
She has enthusiasm and the scientific mind. There are only 
a dozen persons in Britain who know as much of food con- 
ditions as she. She understands with technical and detailed 
intimacy the health situation. Her exact information enables 
her to serve on Government committees and to present evidence 



WOMEN 225 

in the industrial area. She has brilliant color and vitality, 
glossy black hair, and a large, powerful figure, picturesque in 
a black tunic with two strands of yellow beads. She has a 
sturdy stride and is a born " mixer." She is an admirable 
public speaker, with a full voice that carries to the sleeper 
in the last pew. She knows the news value of facts as against 
idealistic phrasing, and the deadly instances she gave of specu- 
lation in oils, affecting margarine, and cattle foods, and hence 
the price of milk, appeared in most of the papers of Britain 
next morning. She demanded a restoration of Government 
control. 

She had previously said : 

The question is how soon control can be reinstated with regard 
to oils, fats, and bacon. It is not so much the absence of pig- 
breeding as the operations of the American trusts, and the ces- 
sation of control. Actually there is a surplus so far as fats and 
oils are concerned — those of which margarine is made. 

Dr. Phillips also said: 

It is unpaid work that makes the Labor Party great. 

So, with eight million women able to vote, the women are 
busy on organization and propaganda. But it will require 
many years of work from the handful of leaders and the few 
hundreds of awakened women to penetrate the shy, over- 
worked, unaroused masses. 

The new constitution of the Labor Party, which was adopted 
in February, 1918, was in working order at the time of the 
last annual conference in June, 1918. The three main features 
affecting the work of women were the establishment of in- 
dividual membership, the arrangements made for individual 
women members to work together as Women's Sections of the 
Local Labor Parties, and the inclusion of at least four women 
on the Executive Committee of the party elected at the annual 
conference. The granting of women's suffrage and the im- 
pulse towards labor organization under the new constitution 
has led to greater interest in politics being taken by women 



226 PROBLEMS 

generally and women's organizations than was formerly the 
case. 

Working in agreement with the women of the Labor Party 
is the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's 
Organizations. The Standing Joint Committee of Industrial 
Women's Organizations was founded in 191 6 and, from time 
to time since, its constitution has been amended in order that 
it may better fulfil its objects. In general terms these are to 
watch over the interest of working women, and help to carry 
out the principles of the labor and co-operative movements 
in so far as women are specially concerned. The committee 
also acts as an advisory body on women's questions to the 
Executive Committee of the Labor Party. 

The committee now represents : the Women's Trade Union 
League, the Labor Party, the Women's Co-operative Guild, 
the National Federation of Women Workers, the Railway 
Women's Guild. In order that it may be fully representative 
of all women within the labor and co-operative movements 
it invites representation from the Parliamentary Committee 
of the Trades Union Congress, the Co-operative Union, and 
" industrial organizations, of which a substantial number of 
the members are women, which are national in character, and 
are accepted by the committee." 

The committee has been constant in its efforts to keep before 
the labor movement and the whole community the special 
interests of working women. Among these efforts must be 
considered its work in many deputations to Ministers which it 
has organized or in which it has taken part, when legislation 
has been before Parliament, especially in relation to the 
Ministry of Health Bill, the Emancipation of Women Bill, and 
the question of women's unemployment. 

Mary R. Macarthur is chairman; Margaret Llewelyn 
Davies, vice-chairman, and Dr. Marion Phillips, secretary. 

The year's work has been chiefly notable as recording in- 
creased political activity among women, both nationally and 
locally. For the first time women have stood for Parliament 
under the auspices of the Labor Party : in a large number of 



WOMEN 227 

areas, labor women have been successful candidates at local 
elections : both the scope and importance of women's work on 
national administrative and consultative bodies have increased. 

I think it fair to say that, with the exception of perhaps 
fifty women, women as a group (up to the year 1920) did not 
exercise the influence in industrial and political affairs in 
Great Britain which they have exercised in recent years in the 
United States. 

Exceptional British women were as potent as certain women 
are in our country. These exceptional women would include 
Mrs. Sidney Webb, Mrs. Henry Fawcett, Mary Macarthur, 
Margaret Bondfield, Dr. Marion Phillips, Margaret Llewelyn 
Davies, Susan Lawrence, Mrs. Sanderson Furniss, Margaret 
McMillan, Maude Royden, Mrs. Pember Reeves, Mrs. 
Pethick Lawrence, Mrs. Despard, Mrs. Philip Snowden, 
Eleanor Rathbone, Dr. Janet Campbell. These women have 
ranked in Britain as Jane Addams, Lillian Wald, Mary Drier, 
Mary McDowell, rank in America. 

Woman is the forgotten factor, which will upset the equa- 
tion. Blithely officials and owners and labor leaders scheme 
their man-made world, while six million women in occupations 
(some of them emancipated, and most of them soon to have 
a vote) alter every calculation made. Inferior status has been 
and continues to be the economic position of women. Em- 
ployers, the Government and trade unions, concur. 

Mrs. Webb writes: 

The inequality has, during the war, actually been embodied in 
agreements between the men's trade unions and employers' asso- 
ciations, coupled with a solemn bargain that after the war the 
women should be excluded from the men's jobs. 

G. D. H. Cole writes in An Introduction to Trade Unionism: 

The great majority of skilled craft unions admit only male 
workers, and would refuse to accept women on grounds of sex 
alone, even if they were otherwise eligible for membership. Women 
are not admitted into any of the craft unions in the engineering, 



228 PROBLEMS 

shipbuilding, or building industries. The transport unions on the 
other hand, including the National Union of Railwaymen and the 
Tramway Workers' Unions, have adopted the policy of organizing 
women, and endeavoring to secure for them full rates. The part 
played by women in framing the policy of the trade union move- 
ment is still exceedingly small. 

The War Cabinet Committee on Women in Industry report 
on this point: 

The attitude of Trade Unions towards the employment of 
women, in part dictated by men's ideas as to what work it is 
decent and proper for women to perform, has also been influenced 
by the fear of the effect of women's competition in ousting men 
from occupations or in lowering their standard of life, a fear 
justified by the fact that degradation of the standard invariably 
followed the introduction, on account of its cheapness, of female 
labor. In occupations in which women have established them- 
selves the efforts of the men's Trade Unions have been directed 
towards confining them to the processes which, in the men's 
opinion, are the better suited to them, or to keeping them from 
particular machines or tools, weights and sizes of implements, ma- 
terials and products. This has been done rather by getting the 
assent of employers to the rules of the Union than by written 
agreements, though in some instances such agreements are extant ; 
for instance, one between the Federated Associations of Boot and 
Shoe Manufacturers and the National Union of Boot and Shoe 
Operatives, made shortly before the war (5th May, 1914), which 
provides for the gradual cessation of the employment of females 
amongst male operatives in the clicking, press, lasting, and finish- 
ing departments of the Boot Making Trade, in which operations 
male labor was then almost exclusively employed. The men in 
various trades have also refused to admit women to their unions, 
and thus to give them the advantages of their organization — this, 
in spite of the success in securing the interests of the workers 
which had been effected in the Cotton Unions and was promised in 
the Shop Assistants' Union, where women have been organized 
with men. 

There are some unions still existing that have admitted 
women since 1850, but such unions first became effective in 



WOMEN 229 

the cotton trade forty years ago and only during the present 
century have women been organized in considerable numbers 
in other industries. According to The Labor Year Book of 
1916, in the ten years previous to 1914 the numbers had gone 
up from 113,715 in the textile and 15,369 in all other trades, to 
257,281 in the former and 99,682 in the latter, or to a total of 
356,963, made up as follows : 

Cotton 211,084 

Other Textiles 46,197 

Clothing 22,830 

Shop Assistants 24,255 

General Labor 23,677 

Other Trades 19,295 

Employees of Public Authorities 9,625 

Total 356,963 

This was between six and seven per cent of the number 
employed. 

Certain unions organize only women. There are craft 
unions: Society of Women Welders, Manchester Union of 
Women in the Bookbinding Trades. There are industrial 
unions: Independent Women Boot and Shoe Operatives 
Union, the Women Hosiery Workers' Union, the Women Silk 
Workers of Leek. There are general labor unions: the Na- 
tional Federation of Women Workers. 

There are unions containing men and women: the textile 
unions ; the National Union of Printing and Paper Workers ; 
the National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Ware- 
housemen and Clerks; the Amalgamated Union of Co-opera- 
tive Employees. 

War had strengthened the organization of women in trade 
unions. There were about 750,000 female members. The 
National Federation of Women Workers had 75,000. The 
National Union of General Workers had 60,000 women in 
their membership of 350,000. The National Amalgamated 
Union of Labor had 35,000 in 175,000. The Dock, Wharf, 
Riverside, and General Workers' Union had 8,000 women to- 



230 PROBLEMS 

bacco workers, 3,000 chocolate workers, and others. The 
Workers' Union had 60,000 female workers. The National 
Warehouse and General Workers' Union had 10,000. The 
textile trades unions had 350,000 women. The National Union 
of Railwaymen had 30,000. 
The War Cabinet Committee reports: 

The committee are not aware of any case outside transport in 
which trade unions previously confined to men have admitted 
women to membership. The question is understood to have been 
mooted by the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, but the exclu- 
sion of women has hitherto been based upon a demarcation of 
skill rather than of sex. A small new union was formed within 
the engineering trade by the Society of Women Welders, which 
may prove to be a pioneer of skilled craft unionism among women. 
It is, of course, too early at present to say whether the extension 
of trade unionism among women which has been caused by the 
war will be permanent or not. It seems probable that a decline 
will follow the cessation of munitions work. 

The best hope of real and permanent amelioration of the posi- 
tion of women in industry lies in trade union action. 

Textile trades engaged two-fifths of all women in industry, 
and of all workers in textiles, four-sevenths were women. 
Their trades-union organization had gone further in this in- 
dustry than in any other. 

In July, 1918, the total number of occupied women had, 
according to Board of Trade figures, increased by twenty-two 
and one-half per cent, or from just under six million to nearly 
seven and one-third million as shown in the following table : 



WOMEN 



231 



Number of In July, In July, 

Women Working 1914 1918 

On their own Account or as 

Employers 430,000 470,000 

In Industry 2,178,600 2,970,600 

In Domestic Service 1,658,000 1,258,000 

In Commerce, etc 505,500 934,500 

In National and Local Gov- 
ernment including Edu- 
cation 262,200 460,200 

In Agriculture 190,000 228,000 

In employment of Hotels, 
Public Houses, Theaters, 
etc 181,000 220,000 

In Transport 18,200 117,200 

In other, including Profes- 
sional Employment and 
as Home Workers 542,500 652,500 

Altogether in Occupations 5,966,000 7,311,000 
Not in Occupations, but 

over 10 12,946,000 12,496,000 

Under 10 4,809,000 4,731,000 

Total Females 23,721,000 24,538,000 



In July, 1 91 8, 
over (plus) 

or under ( — ) 

Numbers in 

July, 1914 

plus 40,000 

" 792,000 

— 400,000 

plus 429,000 



198,000 
38,000 



39,ooo 
99,000 



110,000 
plus 1,345,000 

— 450,000 

— 78,000 



plus 817,000 



232 



PROBLEMS 



Trades 



Metal 

Chemical 

Textile 

Clothing 

Food, Drink, and 
Tobacco 

Paper and Print- 
ing .., 

Wood . 

China and Earth- 
enware 

Leather 

Other 

Government Es- 
tablishments . . . 

Total 



Estimated 
number of 

Females 
employed 

in July, 
1914 



170,000 

40,000 

863,000 

612,000 

196,000 

147,500 
44,000 

32.000 
23,100 
49,000 

2,000 



2,178,600 



Estimated 
number of 

Females 
employed 

in July, 
1918 



594,000 
104,000 
827,000 
568,000 

235,000 

141,500 
79,000 



197,100 



225,000 



2,970,600 



Differ- 
ence 
between 
numbers 

of 

Females 

employed 

in July, 

1914, and 

July, 1918 



-f 424,000 
-j- 64,000 

— 36,000 

— 44,000 

+ 39,000 

— 6,000 
+ 35,000 



+ 93,000 



+ 223,000 



+ 792,000 



Percent- 
age of 
Females 
to total 
number 
of Work- 
people 
employed 



July, 
1914 



9 
20 
58 
68 

35 

36 
15 



3 
26 



July, 
1918 



25 
39 
67 
76 

49 

48 
32 



10 

47 
37 



Estimated 
number of 
Females 
directly 
replacing 
Males in 
Jan., 1918 



195,000 
35,ooo 
64,000 
43,ooo 

60,000 

21,000 
23,000 



62,000 



197,000 



704,000 



An inquiry on wages in 1906 showed that the average earn- 
ings of operatives working full time in an ordinary week in 
the four main divisions of industry proper were as follows : 

Lads and All 

Men Boys Women Girls Workpeople 

s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. 

Textiles 28 1 10 5 15 5 811 17 6 

Clothing 30 2 98 13 6 5 9 15 1 

Metals 33 11 10 4 12 8 74 27 4 

Miscellaneous ... 28 6 10 3 n 7 66 21 7 

The Labor Year Book of 191 6 published an unofficial esti- 



WOMEN 233 

mate of the earnings of the employed and manual working 
wage earners in the United Kingdom in the year 191 2. It 
gives the average earnings for adult employed manual working 
women, working throughout the year, as 10s. 10)4 d. per week, 
as against 25s. gd. for men, and the average earnings of women 
in situations as 12s. 4d. 

The great majority of female workers in Great Britain were 
before the war paid much less than a living wage. 

The War Cabinet Committee sums up the war-change : 

A comparison between the general level of women's wages with 
that prevailing before the war, makes evident how far-reaching 
are the changes involved. The Labor Gazette of January, 1919, 
points out that whereas the total weekly advance to workers in 
industry amounted to less than £400,000 in the five years 19 10- 
1914, in 1915-1916 (two years) it reached about £1,300,000, in 
1917 £2,307,000 and in 1918 £2,783,000, or close on £145,000,000 
a year affecting between five and six million persons. The pre- 
war average of women's wages was estimated on a liberal basis 
at 3d. an hour, or 13s. 6d. a week. 1 In the metal trades, by the 
end of 1918, the rate was approximately doubled, and the average 
earnings, including war wages, practically trebled. It is probable 
that the average of women's earnings over the whole field of 
industry proper were towards the end of the war nearer 35s. than 
30s. weekly. There were approximately one million women 
employed on munitions work, and their minimum rate, exclusive 
of all overtime, night work, and excluding balances made on piece, 
premium bonus or bonus on output, was 33s. a week towards the 
end of 1918. Against this are to be set the women's trades, such 
as millinery and dressmaking, which felt comparatively little 
influence from the war conditions, though even the trade board 
minima rose considerably during the war. On the other side, 
there were large numbers of women, e.g., those in the transport 
trades, who replaced men at the men's rates and were generally 
earning more than the munition workers. Even in a trade ap- 
parently out of the main stream of munitions' influence, such as 

1 This is the Committee's estimate. 

The Labor Year Book's is io/io^d. for employed manual work- 
ing women (1912). 



234 PROBLEMS 

cigar-making, the earnings of women now are estimated by the 
trades union as being between 30s. and £3 a week. 1 

But the promise of the Government (in the Treasury Agree- 
ment) to the trade unions will, when fulfilled, bring the ex- 
clusion from any establishment of women doing work which 
was by practice exclusively men's work before the war. Be- 
fore summer, 1919, 400,000 women were reported out of work. 
And with the removal of the Wages (Temporary Regulation) 
Act of 191 8, wages of women are sure to tumble. The only 
machinery to cope with this are the Joint Industrial Councils 
and the Trade Boards. 

The Joint Industrial Councils have made certain wage- 
decisions in behalf of women. But because the women are 
mainly employed in an auxiliary capacity, not separately 
organized, and not directly represented, " it is conceivable that 
women falling under the Joint Industrial Councils may find 
their interests less efficiently safeguarded than if they were 
under a Trade Board. Joint Industrial Councils are still some 
way off any comprehensive regulation of women's wages." 2 

By the 1913 extension of the Trade Boards Act, about 320,- 
000 women were brought inside that legal regulation of wages. 
At least a million more could be fittingly brought inside trade 
boards. 

The immediate future is black for the working women of 
Britain. Exploitation by employers, indifference on the part of 
the Government, the ignorance and selfishness of male trade 
unionists, the weakness of women, all these will play their part 
in leaving women wailing at the gate. There will be no complete 
solution until they organize in trade unions and until they use 
the vote. No one is going to help them but themselves. 

!"The bulk of women were earning between 10s. and 15s. before 
the war, when 17s. was the least sum a woman needed to maintain 
herself decently. They now earn between 25s. and 35s. (i2/6d. and 
17/66.. by pre-war standards)." — "The Course of Women's Wages," 
by Dorothea M. Barton, read to the Royal Statistical Society, June 17, 

IQIQ. 

2 Joint Industrial Councils are popularly known as Whitleys. 



WOMEN 285 

Permanent gains have been made in the last seventy years 
and in the last five years. State regulation of women's work 
before the War was through the Factory Legislation enacted 
from 1844 onwards. While much of the legislation was in the 
interests of the cleanliness, health, and safety of workers 
generally, parts had special application to young persons and 
women in factories or workshops. It excluded women from 
employment underground or in moving railway wagons, from 
brass casting and certain processes in the manufacture of 
white lead, and it imposed periodical medical inspection on 
those engaged in lead processes in the making of china and 
earthenware, with suspension or exclusion where liability to 
poisoning was shown. Restrictions were placed on women 
working between, or cleaning certain parts of, machines in 
motion. Provision was made for separate rooms for meals and 
separate sanitary accommodation. Women were prevented 
from working at night — usually between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. — 
and (with an unimportant exception) on Sundays or the recog- 
nized public holidays. Their working week was limited in the 
case of non-textile industries to sixty hours, and the working 
day to a maximum of ten and one-half hours and seven and 
one-half hours on Saturdays ; spells without meal interruptions 
were limited to five hours. In the textile trades the limits 
were fifty-five and one-half hours for the week, ten for the 
day and five and one-half on Saturdays, and four for spells. 
Overtime was not allowed in the textile trade, and limited in 
most others to thirty occasions in the year, and to not more 
than two hours (including half an hour for a meal) on any one 
date. Certain latitude was given in this respect in laundries. 
The holiday and meal regulations for shops applied to men as 
well as women, the only special shop regulation for the latter 
obliging the employer to provide at least one seat to every 
three shop assistants. An occupier of a factory or workshop 
might not knowingly employ a woman within four weeks of 
the birth of her child. A provision in the law applying to all 
classes of workers which is claimed to have specially benefited 
women workers, both home and out, is that which compels 



236 PROBLEMS 

clear information and particulars of the work to be done 
and of the piece rates applicable to be given to piece-workers 
before they commence work in the textile, clothing, and certain 
other trades. 1 

Supervision of the health of the industrial worker has come 
as the result of the War. Dr. Janet Campbell has given a con- 
venient summary: 

Special arrangements for the supervision of the health of em- 
ployed men and women were almost non-existent before the war, 
except in those trades scheduled by the Home Office as dangerous. 
During the war an extended supervision has been considered 
advisable, especially where women are employed, partly on account 
of the peculiar dangers to health involved in handling various 
high explosives, partly because the exceptionally heavy nature of 
some of the work might result in definite physical injury, and 
partly because of the long hours, night shifts, etc. It has been 
suggested that when normal conditions return the care of the 
health of workpeople should be developed rather than curtailed, 
especially where women and young girls are concerned. Before 
considering what is possible or desirable, it may be useful to set 
out the powers already possessed by local authorities in regard 
to medical examination and treatment. 

Under the Notification of Births (Extension) Act, 191 5, every 
birth must be notified to the Medical Officer of Health within 36 
hours, and under this Act and the Maternity and Child Welfare 
Act, 1918, 2 the Sanitary Authority have power to make arrange- 

1 See War Cabinet Committee's Report. 

2 The State aid at present available for nursing and expectant 
mothers is as follows: 

(a) Maternity Benefit under the National Insurance Act, which is a 
contributory benefit and which amounts to 30s. or 60s. according to 
whether the wife is insured as well as the husband. It is payable to 
the mother herself at the time of the birth and its expenditure is un- 
controlled and unsupervised. There is no doubt that the maternity 
benefit has been of great service to many mothers at a period of finan- 
cial stress and has enabled them at least to pay a doctor or a qualified 
midwife. 

(b) The Maternity and Child Welfare Act, 1918, empowers the Sani- 
tary Authority to provide assistance for mothers who require it in the 



WOMEN 237 

ments for the health and welfare of mothers and young children. 

The Education (Administrative Provisions) Act, 1907, placed 
upon local education authorities the duty of medically inspecting 
every child on admission to school and at such subsequent periods 
as the Board of Education should determine. It also gave power 
to the authorities to provide treatment for physical defects so 
detected. The Education Act of 1918 imposes upon authorities 
a duty to provide adequate and suitable treatment for children in 
attendance at Public Elementary Schools. It also imposes a duty 
to provide for the medical inspection of boys and girls under 18 
years of age on admission to certain educational institutions, in- 
cluding continuation schools, and on such other occasions as may 
be prescribed by the Board of Education, in addition to giving 
power to provide facilities for medical treatment. Under the 
Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, the certifying factory surgeon 
gives certificates of fitness for employment to children employed 
in factories (but not in workshops) and to young persons under 
the age of 16 which are based on a personal medical examination. 
The examination is often perfunctory, and as it is not followed 
up by inspection and treatment is largely useless. In addition to 
this duty the certifying factory surgeon is responsible for the 
monthly examination, and, if necessary, the supervision of men 
and women engaged in " dangerous " trades ; further, all serious 
accidents and cases of poisoning or of anthrax must be notified 
to him. He also has certain duties in regard to compensation 
under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906. When the young 
person reaches the age of 16 he comes within the provisions of 
the National Health Insurance Act, and is eligible for the bene- 
fits of medical treatment, sick pay, etc., therein prescribed. 

Provision has therefore already been made for medical inspec- 
tion and treatment under the local education authority up to 18 
years of age. When the new Education Act has had time to 
become fully operative we may assume that the boy or girl enter- 
ing industry will have been under regular medical care and super- 
form of treatment by medical practitioners or midwives, advice or help 
through Health Visitors, Maternity Centers or Infant Welfare Centers, 
and food or milk for mother or child if required. Machinery for full 
utilization of the powers thus granted is not yet in existence, but foun- 
dations have been laid upon which a complete system of municipal 
advice, treatment, and seneral help may eventually be constructed. 



238 PROBLEMS 

vision during the whole of school life and will have received 
treatment for such physical defects as have revealed themselves. 
The health records so obtained will indicate whether a child is 
unsuited on physical grounds to enter any particular occupation, 
and with the aid of the juvenile employment officers such children 
should be directed to work which is not likely to prove injurious. 
During the first three or four years of employment, some of the 
most important from the point of view of physical health, the 
young person will remain under the supervision of the school 
medical officer, and will be subject to further periodical medical 
examinations. 

The main industrial battle of the next five years will be 
fought out with women as an auxiliary body of labor, enjoying 
inferior status. Their pay used to be somewhat less than half 
that of men. During the War it rose to rather more than two- 
thirds. It will fall to less than half. Munitions work was 
not a gold mine for the operatives : it was, for the average, a 
living wage. And this for the majority of the women was the 
first time they had ever made a living wage. The vested in- 
terest of the male, the active resistance of male workers, the 
inertia and unscrupulousness of employers, the Pontius-Pilate 
attitude of elected persons, all the old veiled hostilities will 
again be aimed at the " saviors of the Empire." 

" The assumption that men as such must receive higher pay 
because they have families to support, and that women, as 
such, should receive less because they have no such family 
obligations, is demonstrably inaccurate to the extent of twenty- 
five or even fifty per cent," says Mrs. Webb. And the per- 
centage will grow higher as the fruits of the last war are 
more fully garnered, and as the present military plans of the 
Secretary of War are carried out into action. Just as the 
pledge of the Treasury Agreement (that the women employed 
in war work in substitution of men should receive the same pay 
as the men they replaced) was cleverly broken by the Govern- 
ment, for the most part, so future promises will be evaded till 
the day comes when women have the bargaining power and 
pressure of organization. 






WOMEN 239 

Many of the 400,000 ex-slavies will be driven back into 
domestic service. There are 200,000 widows of working-class 
men. There are fatherless children to be provided for. The 
problem of " the treble strain of childbearing, wage-earning 
and household drudgery " will be intensified in the grim days 
of national poverty which England now enters on. " Lloyd 
George's munition girls " — those " splendid women " — face a 
future which will put the iron into their souls, and will slowly 
but inevitably turn them into a political and industrial 
organized group as powerful, as menacing, as the hosts of the 
Triple Alliance. 1 

1 The Labor Gazette of January, 1920, gives the latest (1918) 
statistics on trade union and kindred membership. The total male 
membership was 5,400,000. The total female membership was 
1,220,000. This is an increase of 36% in one year for women. The 
approximate membership of women (no exactness is possible) was 

Textiles 418,000 

Clothing , 120,000 

Printing, paper 37,ooo 

Shop assistants, clerks 74,ooo 

Miscellaneous 282,000 

" General " unskilled unions 212,000 

Employees of public authorities 77,000 

Total ..1 1,220,000 



CHAPTER II 
BOTTOMLEY 



[Horatio Bottomley, editor of the weekly, John Bull, is 
selected here merely as a representative of those who distract 
public opinion. The soldier and the worker read him and his 
like. The problem is this : How are the statesmen of democ- 
racy to convince the rank and file and to persuade all classes 
in the democracy, when the channels of publicity are largely 
in the hands of opponents ?] 

All the preceding chapters have gone to show the just and 
merciful elements in British character — the fine idealism of 
General Smuts and Lord Robert Cecil, the broad-gauged pa- 
triotism of some of the great employers, the level-headed labor 
leadership of Smillie, Hodges, Arthur Henderson, and Clynes, 
the sincere efforts in social reform of Government officials like 
Dr. Addison, and Sir Robert Home. 

But to appreciate the struggle of these men, it is necessary 
to know that there is an evil minority in the community who 
would push this kindlier order of society back into the jungle, 
if they could. " There are," as Lloyd George said on April 
16, 1919, " wild men screaming through the keyholes." 

Mr. Horatio Bottomley is representative of a strong and 
large element in any society. 1 It is the mob as distinct from the 
democracy. We all have in us hate, revenge, fear, and grab. 
He appeals with emotional force to this brute streak. He 

1 Mr. Bottomley flourishes. In addition to owning and editing John 
Bull, he partly controls the National News, the Sunday Evening 
Telegraph, and he contributes the leading article to the Sunday Pic- 
torial. The mainspring of his inner life he revealed in the House of 
Commons on November 4, 1919: " I am a Hun-hater. I live to hunt 
the Hun. I intend to do it all the days of my life." 

240 



BOTTOMLEY 241 

appeals to Britain in its heavy holiday mood — to the crowd of 
the public house, the music hall, the prize fight, the dog fight, 
the horse race, the professional football game, dirty humor, and 
the spirit of sport on its savage gambling sides. His spiritual 
allies are : the haters of the Irish, the commercial imperialists, 
the militarists, some of the daily press, much of the Sunday 
press, the Morning Post and the Saturday Review. He is the 
voice of the bitter, greedy, hate-elements in our common 
humanity. 

On April 19, 1919, Mr. Bottomley wrote : 

The things which matter are (1) indemnities; (2) the punish- 
ment of the Kaiser; and (3) the future of the German colonies. 
I don't trouble myself about the League of Nations dream — that 
can wait. I am thinking of the ten thousand millions which, in 
one way and another, the war has cost us; and the crimes and 
atrocities which, in obedience to his command to " emulate the 
example of Attila," the German soldiery have been guilty of, and 
of those territories contiguous to various parts of the British 
Empire which, before the war, were under the malignant sway 
of Germany. I wipe out, therefore, not only the League, but 
also the " Freedom of the Seas " — whatever that may mean — 
" economic boycotts," and all the rest of it. And whilst the 
Allies are groaning under the burden of war debt and taxation, 
and Germany is either recovering herself — or concluding a Bol- 
shevist bond with Russia and China — America is to " scoop the 
pool ! " 

Why have we an army on the Rhine — except to enforce our 
will upon the enemy ? No ! there must be no more talk — no more 
Little Tens and Big Fours — no more commissions. We have had 
ample time to make up our minds — I believe, too, that France is 
at one with us — and if Mr. Wilson doesn't agree with our de- 
mands^ — well, we are much obliged for his assistance — late as it 
was, when it came — and now he can go home. We have had just 
about enough of his lectures and protestations, and there is splen- 
did irony in the fact that the George Washington is the boat 
which is to take him back. 

What fools we have been ! And all to oblige Mr. Wilson, who 
sat in his study, three thousand miles away from the battlefield, 



242 PROBLEMS 

writing " Notes " and drafting " Points," whilst France and 
Britain and Belgium and Italy were being bled white ! To para- 
phrase a well-known tag, " What fools we mortals be ! " 

As I have said, in the House of Commons and out of it, the 
British case has been too much influenced by the so-called idealism 
of President Wilson. 

Mr. Bottomley's attacks on Americans are frequent. He is 
a prominent figure in Parliament. His ideal for his country 
is that of a more vindictive Prussia. He attacks all that is 
noble in England, and opposes the movement of the 
democracy. He speaks fluently with the swing of a music-hall 
monologist. With his facile and copious emotions, he has a 
real pity for the " hard luck " of the poor. He fights against 
slumland. He pours light on individual cases of injustice. He 
has ready tears for ruined girls, particularly when the story 
of their wrong will smack a little smuttily in the columns of 
his weekly. 

He is as powerful and disintegrating and dangerous to the 
British community as Mr. Hearst is in America. With the 
million circulation of his John Bull, his crowded meetings, and 
his speeches in Parliament, reported throughout Great Britain, 
he exercises a black magic on the mob consciousness. 1 He is 
one of those lusty growths which only come to their perfect 
bloom in the climate of war. Safe from the slaughter, he 
cheers on " an adequate army of occupation — that's the stuff — 
and the only stuff — to give 'em." In that emotional revel, 
which war is to this type of civilian, he rejoices in the spectacle 
of nations bleeding. 

1 This hate is facile. It has at times been turned by mob publicists 
against Serbia, France, Russia, America, Ireland, with the same force 
and phrases as those used against Germany. 



CHAPTER III 
WARBLINGTON.— THE OLD ENGLAND 

[This chapter is given by way of contrast. Old England 
still lingers in a few of the villages and in by-streets of great 
cities. It has a beauty which the modern world cannot create : 
a beauty of nature, and of art, and of traditional association. 
The tanks of civilization are bearing down on this. Will any 
fugitive remnant at all be left? 

The yew tree and the church and the ancestral home are a 
portion of this inherited beauty, which was once resident in 
both the natural world and the man-created world. Already 
it is proposed to raze some of the old churches. Men like 
Cunninghame Graham and W. H. Hudson have protested 
against the destruction of the woodland life — many species of 
birds, now seldom seen; the ponies of New Forest, wounded 
and left to die by speeding motor-car drivers. In making all 
things new, will the inheritors leave anything of Old Eng- 
land?] 

There are men who are fittingly placed in life, like a tree in 
its soil. Such was George Herbert at Bemerton, and Words- 
worth at Ambleside. Such is William Norris, rector of 
Warblington, in the County of Hampshire. For forty years 
he has gone in and out among his people, his ministry con- 
necting their brevity of life with the past of their race, and 
so bequeathing values to the future of which haste and change 
would bereave them. 

His house is entered through a long avenue of hundred- 
year-old elms in double line, crossed, at one point, by lofty 
oaks of a still older day, as if a Norman chancel were cut 
by a transept of early English design. Overhead the topmost 
branches meet in a rounded arch, curving from either side. 

243 



244 PROBLEMS 

Under foot the rich undisciplined grass is tawny with butter- 
cups. At the far end of the lane oi trees, a sixth of a mile 
distant from the entrance gate, stands the rectory, seen 
through that swaying shadowy canopy like a blur of dull 
gold. Down from the rectory to the intersecting oaks a 
double row of daffodils come racing with their yellow-gold 
through the months of February and March. These Lent 
lilies, like the later buttercups, lend a touch of relieving color 
to the cool shade of the oak and elm. A portion of the house 
is three hundred years old, and on its south side, facing the 
all-day sun and the English Channel, the shell of lichened 
brick is pierced at ten points by windows, so that it is open- 
eyed, and eager to gaze out on forty acres of fertile glebe, 
grass land all, and on the precipitous tides at the rim of the 
meadow. Those tides are seen lifting their full-bosomed 
plenty, and then, as swiftly and silently, shoaling till the floor 
of the earth thrusts through, with the wet green glistening 
sea grass veiling the nakedness of mud flats, and white sea- 
gulls camping in the trickling channels that dent the face of 
the sea-bottom like sword-scars on a cheek. 

For one hundred and twenty years the rector's people have 
dwelt right here, grandfather and uncle, handing down "the 
living " through the generations. Inside the home are rooms 
of lofty ceiling and ample space. And so through dining- 
room and drawing-room to the heart of the house, the study, 
where the books flow up from the floor as high as the ceiling. 
Two circular bookcases of mahogany are shaped to the curv- 
ing walls, as if to the stern of a ship. The shelves are heavy 
with sound pieces of book-making: an eighteenth-century edi- 
tion of Swift, a second edition of De Quincey, Smollett, com- 
plete Gibbon, South, many books of mysticism, novelists, poets, 
philosophers. 

The lifetime of the rector's reading is massed around him, 
like silent troops ready to be mobilized on the instant call. 
Here are sturdy editions of the time-defying paper and stitch- 
ing, with levant covers touched by those smoldering colors 
of autumn leaves, which make a library in early evening light 



WARBLINGTON.— THE OLD ENGLAND 245 

seem like the mulch of a late October forest. These are 
books that could never fall from our hasty presses, but were 
fashioned patiently for resisting the little casualties of human 
ownership. Such furniture blends with a room which has sur- 
vivid much occupancy, and still preserves its own aloofness, 
unperturbed by what has fluttered across its threshold. In 
the center of the room sits the man who has read his way 
around the room. He reads and marks, volume upon volume 
traced with his pencilings, so that later work is but heaping 
up for transportation of crops already harvested and win- 
nowed. Such quiet labor, so long maintained, the effort of 
the days of a lifetime, falls inside the same compulsion which 
ripens into stateliness the blown and casual seeds of the natural 
world. 

From " a little and a lone green lane " you come in sight 
of his wide-roofed church, deep-set in elms and yew trees, 
and hard by the solitary shaft of a castle. He has preserved 
the old trees of the churchyard, clearing their bases of what 
might clog their hold on a future life, wiping away the weeds 
from tombstones, so that many quaint hopes of immortality 
can again be pricked out by chance visitor and lingering com- 
municant. Here he, too, in his mortal way, has taken root 
and ripened, till he seems a part of his gracious landscape 
and of his time-enduring transept. 

The old north porch of oak is mellowed to the hue of stone. 
Its barge-board and its swinging door have weathered six 
centuries on duty there, and still the wood is hard and 
ringing to the blow of knuckles. Once it served as the knee 
of a ship, long before Columbus took to the sea-ways. In 
its first youth heaving and washed on by salt, now in maturity 
it is at rest on English soil, a shelter against fresh rains. 
Where the chancel ceiling had fallen wholly to ruin the rector 
rebuilt. Where the dark-beamed ceiling of the nave had been 
overlaid with plaster by gross builders, his uncle, rector be- 
fore him, struck away the whitewash and let those stalwart 
ribs again reveal the weight they carry down the years. 
" Thomas Hardy would not be displeased with this, you 



246 PROBLEMS 

know," he said. " He is an architect by training, and he 
knows what is rightly done." The church is some of it six 
hundred years old, and a little of it reaching back for a thou- 
sand years in the rounded Saxon arches of the central tower, 
with a scattered few red bricks of Roman baking glowing 
through the gray. 

But older than his church is the tree on the south side of 
the chancel. Indeed it is likely that the church came there 
in adoration of the tree, for such a tree would draw the early 
piety of the Saxon villagers, and they would have raised 
stones and shaped a worship to tell their reverence for so 
living a growth. The rector led the way to that staunch yew 
of a thousand years, with its twenty-six feet of girth. It 
stands unpropped, with no feebleness of drooping outworn 
member. " No better tree in England," he said. The butt 
had formed and reformed in tangled mass to the height of a 
man's head, as if the roots had leaped from their hidden life 
under the earth and sought to climb toward the light. And, 
beaten back in each age they had thickened their coil about 
the parent stem in fierce possession, determined at least to 
hold what was already gained, if fresh height and flourish 
were to be denied. The teeth of storms had been fastened in 
that clustered fiber, and then the angry indentations worn 
smooth by the play of softer winds and gentler rains. And up 
from the gathered strength at the base the trunk lifts itself 
unwearied and straight. There is a patience to the ancient 
thing, as if it were some grim old warrior, resting in the sun 
after long toil — the face pitted with strife and sternness. 
Unconsciously it leveled other matters to their due propor- 
tion: the lives of men, with their little duration, spanning, 
for all their heat, only the ripening of a few shoots from 
the yew tree's central shaft. And it reduced to a proper 
dimension the work of human builders whose cunning could 
avail for only a brief term against crumbling. All man's 
restoration is done each age from a fresh unrelated impulse, 
the old secret lost. At best he can but patch antiquity, never 
lead it on to inherit the future bv invisible threads of con- 



WARBLINGTON.— THE OLD ENGLAND 247 

nection — never quite recover the early blitheness and happy 
off-hand stroke that shepherded some slender pier into a 
spray of efflorescence at its crown. But each new energy that 
carried through the sap of the tree had unfolded itself within 
the one enduring growth, a seamless garment from a silent 
loom. 



SECTION SIX 
THE SUMMING UP 

What is the good of all the wealth and comfort and glamor 
of the Victorian age when the next two decades bring us to 
the graves of ten million young men slain because of the base 
passions of greed and domination which lurked below the smiling 
surface of that age? The game is not worth the candle, and we 
should rather welcome the new and difficult times on which we 
are now entering. 

For doubt it not, we are at the beginning of a new century. 
The old world is dying around us; let it also die in us. Once 
more in the history of the human race we hear the great Creative 
Spirit utter those tremendous words, " Behold, I make all things 
new." General Smuts. 

England had won the War. By that process of Nature which 
works so inevitably for her, she had acquired unsought terri- 
tory. Her War-Premier had won his khaki-election, after 
promising audacious things. The year of peace opened pro- 
pitiously. 

But at the moment that private enterprise, under the capi- 
talistic system, was facing its brightest future, with weak 
countries ripe for exploitation, with raw materials located and 
controlled, with science equipped for turning them into stand- 
ardized products, just at this pinnacle of power, an unex- 
pected disease struck paralysis throughout the system. 
Labor, on whose docility depended the extension of beneficent 
Anglo-Saxon rule over lesser breeds, went " bad." For the 
six years before the War, indeed, signs of trouble had been 
increasing, but only cranks and experts had regarded them. 
Then came the War with its healing touch. But even here, 
the wholesale slaughter did not result in the enrichment of life 
which was hoped for by both bishops and editors. Memories 

249 



250 THE SUMMING UP 

of the Brotherhood of the Trenches fail to content the de- 
mobilized Tommy with the England to which he returns. By 
the guerilla warfare of sectional strikes and one-day stop- 
pages, by the mass warfare of great strikes, by the steady 
wear and wastage of slack work, petty obstructions, and 
passive resistance, the workers pick and nibble and dynamite 
the system to pieces. Capital no longer invests in growing 
volume. Labor no longer works with heartiness. Industry 
is running down. 

Those who work are fighting those who own. The work- 
ers no longer think that the shareholders are wiser than they. 
An old Oxford friend said sadly to me: 

Ten years ago, when I came into a crowded bus, a working- 
man would rise and touch his cap and give me his seat. I am 
sorry to see that spirit dying out. 

The workers are beginning to use a manner of jau' - equal- 
ity in dealing with those passengers who travel through life 
on a first-class ticket. It is a spiritual change which will 
register itself in new social institutions. The workers believe 
that they have been " had." The porter, waiter, miner, ma- 
chinist have penetrated the secret of the significant class, and 
have found it is not fixed in the eternal scheme of things that 
the workers should insure the harmonious leisure of a superior 
caste. They are willing to take the risk of making funda- 
mental economic changes in order to express this new con- 
sciousness. If it is poverty the future holds, the worker is 
willing to share it with the rich. If it is the carking worry 
of responsibility, the agonies of the directorate in bossing, 
the worker stands ready to lighten the load. 

Certain ideas one believes to be knit into the fiber of a 
people. Suddenly they fall away — outworn shells. So the 
class idea falls away in England, just as the worship of the 
Czar by Russians died in a night. Reverence for the gentry, 
for the privileged, for the idle, has withered. With the idea 
gone, the institutions built upon it go. Until Britons learned 



THE SUMMING UP 251 

the incapacity of the governing class, the selfishness of the 
owners of land and capital, the Old Order and the Old Gang 
were impregnable. That is the change in spirit, beginning to 
show itself by 1910, but hastened by the War. In my opinion, 
this change is the most profound in its grip on instinct, the 
most far-reaching in its consequences, of any. All other 
changes wait on that, and follow from that. An American 
philosopher, Ralph Barton Perry (in The Present Conflict of 
Ideals), has expressed the significance of this change in the 
psychology of a people. He writes : 

We have encouraged the poor to aspire to wealth, the ignorant 
to seek light, and the weak to covet power. We have done more 
than this — we have shown them the way. For we have com- 
pelled every man to secure the rudiments of education and thus 
to become aware of the world about him. We permit the organi- 
zation of the democratic propaganda, we supply the motive, and 
we bring every man within the reach of it. Last and most impor- 
tant of all, we have distributed political power equally among men 
of every station and condition; with the result that the very 
few who are fortunate may at any time be out-voted by the 
overwhelming majority of those who are relatively unfortunate. 
Does any sane man suppose that what has been scattered broad- 
cast can now be withdrawn? Or that those who possess the 
opportunity and know it are going to refrain from using it? 

From the day of the armistice, labor unrest increased. The 
immediate occasions of the almost universal unrest were : 

1. The fact that the labor vote in the December election did 
not receive its proportionate representation in Parliament, 
whereas a little over 50 per cent of voters elected over 75 
per cent of coalition representatives. Labor's vote entitled it 
to at least one hundred and twenty-five seats. 

2. Mr. Lloyd George's attack on the labor leaders as " Bol- 
shevists." 

3. Widespread unemployment, numbering about one mil- 
lion workers ; whereas 

4. The Government was selling national factories (which 



252 THE SUMMING UP 

could have been used for national service) into private hands 
and purposing to sell the new national shipyards into private 
hands. 

5. The increasing volume of proof of war-profiteering on 
the part of a few and no evidence of a " New England " for 
the many. 

6. Lack of Government policy concerning demobilization. 

7. Failure to apply Whitley councils to Government serv- 
ices, such as the Post Office. 

8. Failure to give a clear statement on nationalization of 
mines and railways, on continuation of conscription, on 
wages. 

9. Failure to withdraw war restrictions, such as imprison- 
ment of political prisoners, the continuation of D.O.R.A. 

10. The jazz restlessness, the result of war weariness. 

The great cities went dancing madly. There were a slack- 
ness and abandon which I do not remember having seen in 
nineteen years of visiting in England. War had bred a fatal- 
ism, a carelessness about to-morrow. The soldier was tired 
and sad and ready for excitement. The worker was tired 
and bitter, distrustful of Government promises. The strikes 
and threats of strike (engineering, shipbuilding, electrical, 
transport, railways, mines) were aimed immediately at main- 
taining the wage scales of the War and preventing unem- 
ployment. 

Mr. Lloyd George, pausing in his work at Versailles, came 
home to cure unrest. In nothing are his touch and technique 
swifter, surer, than in his improvisations for labor disturb- 
ance. So this time he projected the National Industrial Con- 
ference and the Coal Industry Commission. In each crisis, 
he believes that what is wanted is a lightning rod, not an in- 
surance policy. Each time he smiles and seems to say, " Why 
so hot, little man ? " 

So the months passed. Labor began the year at high revo- 
lutionary speed, but there came a fade-away, because of : 

1. The failure of strikes and uprisings (such as the Clyde 
engineers, Yorkshire miners, the second police strike). 






THE SUMMING UP 253 

2. The influence of labor leaders affiliated to the Triple 
Alliance — Will Thorne, Clynes, Thomas, Sexton, Tillett. 

3. The influence of Arthur Henderson. 

4. Realization of the nation's financial condition (state- 
ments of Hoover and Lloyd George). 

5. The enjoyment of labor gains already made — gains rela- 
tive to other classes, former lot, and the general situation. 

6. The discount of wildness or suddenness. 

7. Too many issues — the movement jumped in various di- 
rections, like a nest of grasshoppers. 

8. Delay. It is impossible to hold a revolutionary pose. 
The workers grow bored. The issues change. Revolution 
must gallop like a motion picture. England had no Griffiths 
to unroll it — there is no big boss of British labor. 

Having come so far, labor was unprepared to go further. 
The trade-union leaders after the War found themselves in 
new conditions where they had no guiding experience. So 
(with a half-dozen exceptions) they failed to give leadership. 

Labor is unready, because it believes itself unready. It 
has revealed this inner weakness by the feebleness of its Par- 
liamentary opposition. With its sixty-two members it could 
have made a fighting block in Commons, like the old Irish 
group under Parnell. It could flay and finally slay the pres- 
ent Government, which is unpopular, inaccurate, mendacious, 
and without a policy. Instead, the labor group has been tame, 
humble-minded, without ideas, leadership, or militancy. 

Labor showed its unreadiness in failing to follow the shop 
stewards. The rank and file fell away from the workshop 
movement. 

Labor failed in influencing to any large degree the terms 
of the Peace Treaty. Had it been united and determined, it 
could have forced Versailles to save Europe instead of 
wrecking it. It is convenient to blame Lloyd George or Wil- 
son, but the real failure was the lack of international con- 
sciousness among the workers. Their internationalism is 
mainly a matter of friendly feelings. They rarely summon 
their pressure to effect a change of Government policy. They 



254* THE SUMMING UP 

love abstract principles and ethical sentiments. They love a 
leader who can talk in terms of the moral world. In fact, 
the labor movement internationally is far from united. More 
exactly, it is indifferent. Roused momentarily to interna- 
tional consciousness by Mr. Wilson's arrival, it would have 
rallied round him if he had conducted open diplomacy at the 
conference. But with the case leaking away day by day, it felt 
let down, shrugged its shoulders, and turned to domestic con- 
cerns. A powerful minority section agitated against Russian 
intervention. But the main body of labor is weary of Europe. 

Labor, lacking the conviction of its mission to set up the 
new order at once, nevertheless reacted with determined and 
victorious power when its industrial gains were assailed. The 
wage scales of the War have been held, while hours have been 
shortened. 1 In the more important industries the average in- 
crease in rates of wages (including war bonuses) made since 
the outbreak of war, lies between ioo and 120 per cent. Ex- 
amples range from less than 60 to over 150 per cent. 

If labor's year of peace failed to realize the crisp defiance 
and brave synthetic program of the Sidney Webb manifesto 
(Labor and the New Social Order), the Government made as 
poor a score. Mr. Lloyd George summed up his peace pro- 
gram and policy in a letter sent in July, 191 9, to a coalition 
candidate. He itemized the establishment of a Ministry of 
Health, the Housing measure, the Ways and Communication 
Bill, Land Acquisition, and Land Settlement. The best com- 
ment on this is that of Mr. Clynes. He said : — 

After ten months of a most powerful Parliament under a most 
powerful Prime Minister, nothing has been done in reconstruction. 

But you cannot live on schemes, and the people are tired of 
waiting for the land of promise. The work should have been 
begun in the spring and summer. Never was a Government such 
a failure. The hope of the future is the new-found power of 

1 The hours in the principal industries are now generally 44 to 48, 
compared with 48 to 60 previously. Weekly time wages are generally 
not reduced. No movement previously recorded has equalled this 
"shorter week" of 1919. 



THE SUMMING UP 255 

labor properly used. The only solution is the plan of the Labor 
Party — a levy on the capital of the country or a tax upon the 
accumulated fortunes and profits made during the war. 

Or to give the figures : 

Twelve months after the armistice, a few hundred soldiers 
had been placed on the land. 

Instead of the 200,000 houses, or the 500,000, or the mil- 
lion, 300 houses had been built at the end of fourteen months 
of peace. 

But the Government is like a tired man who takes on addi- 
tional jobs, just because his judgment is blurred and his nerves 
are strained by fatigue. In its moment of prostration, the 
present Government is extending its powers. Throughout 
this year of exhaustion, it has indulged in side-shows and 
semi-wars and adventurous expeditions in several parts of 
the globe. As the Ministry of Reconstruction (Pamphlet 37) 
described it: 

The process of self-determination of nations, we are told, will 
initiate a new order of things, but is it to be believed that the 
regions mentioned above * are yet in a fit state to govern them- 
selves? A few British officers and men on the spot will be a 
very salutary help in the settlement to come. 

Over an area, vast before, and now increased, an area 
seething with unrest, England, tired at the core, is trying to 
send out currents of energy and control. But the dynamo is 
spent, and the wires, that used to be charged with power, 
hardly quiver from the feeble currents of the center. 

Apart from a few lonely voices, labor is silent on this 
hereditary instinctive policy of the Foreign Office and the 
War Office. Labor is silent because it is ignorant of interna- 
tional policy. It has grown up in the trust of these statesmen 
of unblemished honor, who never boast, never explain. This 
will be the last group to be doubted. 

1 Armenia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, East Africa. 



256 THE SUMMING UP 



The Universal Strike 

The lesson of England is not a new device for a factory. It 
is a change of consciousness toward industry. The instincts of 
the workers have revolted against competitive acquisitive organ- 
ization. They refuse to work the system. It therefore slowly 
crumbles. The institutions, registering this change, will be gradu- 
ally created. 

Dean Inge says: "The life of the town artisan who works in 
a factory is a life to which the human organism has not adapted 
itself." The deracinated life of the human herd in modern towns 
is the condition and the instrument of large-scale industry. A 
speeded-up machine production, whose products do not bring a 
good life to those producing them, carries the germ of its own 
decay. " A barbaric civilization, built on blind impulse and am- 
bition, should fear to awaken a deeper detestation than could ever 
be aroused by those more beautiful tyrannies, chivalrous or re- 
ligious, against which past revolutions have been directed." x 

Human nature in industry has gone on strike. The decayed 
autocracy of financiers and business men cannot be restored by 
" profit-sharing " and " copartnership." The revolt is not against 
details. It is against the purpose, products, methods, and condi- 
tions of industry. The workers do not want the " wants " that 
fill modern life, the splatter of the shops. Sections of them have 
proved this by knocking off work for a day (or even two days) 
a week, when they attain a moderate standard of living — the 
level which Professor Zimmern defined to me as one of " reason- 
able satisfaction." 

Something in the industrial system offended the soul of the 
worker. He resented the forced draught that played on his 
working day. He saw " an immense accumulation of the apparatus 
of life, without any corresponding elevation in moral standards," 
creating a civilization of " technical efficiency without love." 

There came a moment when Napoleon's soldiers tired of the 
grandiose and expanding campaigns of conquest. The motives 
that had driven them wore thin. So it is with the workers. The 
familiar compulsions no longer avail, the industrial organization 
crumbles, and the mines and railways and factories become a 

1 Santayana. 



THE SUMMING UP 257 

wasting asset. Militant strikes can be crushed by tanks and ma- 
chine guns. But against the passive resistance of the human spirit 
in the millions of workers the owners make war in vain. It is 
a process of nature, a molecular change, invisible and universal. 
This life-force can be re-enlisted only on its own terms. 1 

The tendency will (very slowly) be to make Britain more self- 
contained. The rush of exports for overseas markets will gradu- 
ally be lessened. The worker will have his garden, and supple- 
ment his living from factory work with his home-grown products. 
This will not mean a return to a pastoral society nor to handi- 
crafts, but it will mean a better balance struck between industry 
and agriculture. It means a production of necessary things — per- 
haps a larger production than now — but the disappearance of 
costly luxuries. As the head of a woman's wholesale dressmaking 
firm said to me : " We no longer sell the $80 dress. But we sell 
half-a-dozen $30 dresses, where we sold one before the war." 

The experiment is an act of faith, like the French Revolution 
and the creation of the American republic. 

The present acute sag in productivity is not to be confused 
with the long descending curve described above. As the immediate 
result of the war the will to work has been disastrously weak- 
ened. This is due to disillusionment, fatigue, the bad habits of 
military life. People wish to spend money. They wish an escape 
from the drab of khaki, the monotony of trench service. They 
turn to color, light, sexual license — to the primitive desires of 
the savage. All the thwarted instincts have been uncovered and 
walk through society, naked and unashamed. 

But this riot of barbaric impulse will not be long continued. 
Wealth has been destroyed. It must be restored. The spiritual 
reserves have been exhausted. Time will bring fresh supplies. 
There is at present no vitality for reconstruction, for anything 
beyond the momentary sensation. Slowly society will re-establish 
its old controls. 

But after the recovery from the present highly abnormal inertia 
and recklessness, the same slow crumble, visible since the begin- 
ning of the century, will continue. Irresponsible capitalism will 

1 A 25 per cent of control will be offered at first as in the railways. 
The changes will be made in digestible instalments. There will be no 
Day of Judgment — only nibbling encroachments. 



258 THE SUMMING UP 

break down in the key industries one by one. These will pass 
over into the control of the workers, as the mines and the rail- 
ways are now passing. 

And yet, after listing the limitations of the people, one 
can only wonder at the speed with which they are recovering 
from the War. 

A year that began with a million unemployed ended with 
only half a million. And that was the year of demobili- 
zation. 

The Government is bankrupt, but England is not bankrupt. 

Inertia and irritability are widespread, but calmness and 
common sense are returning. 

British Traits 

The central fact about Britain is the immense sanity of her 
people. That sanity is compounded of a rich though deeply 
hidden sense of humor, which saves the possessor from fa- 
naticism and from pushing human affairs to a logical conclu- 
sion — of an instinct for political compromise, which carries 
the mass along in a natural unity (made up of apparently re- 
pellent particles) and of a revolutionary mind, which frees 
itself from old cramping institutions, and drives on to fresh 
experiment. 

Their compromise is not the acceptance of the status quo. 
It is the registration of a new point touched in passing: it is 
a momentary arrest in the process of becoming. There is a 
centripetal force in the mass itself — a sense of the center and 
a will to cohere; — which holds its particles together, while it 
moves on. So the " center " of a movement, like the labor 
movement, is a shifting standard, a standard borne on by the 
flood of change. 

Their revolutionary mind does not dabble in bloodshed. 
The British do not wish the spectacle of people whipped into 
feverish excitement, and mowed down by machine guns. 
That sort of herd instinct they believe is as blind and brutal 



THE SUMMING UP 259 

as the mob frenzy that drives men into lynching and war. 
They think that the social revolution means a profound change 
in consciousness, the product of a long teaching, the goal made 
clear, and the way to reach it shown. So the new order comes, 
because there is a change in the thinking of multitudes till 
the old order falls like ripe fruit. British workers do not 
follow cheap " revolutionaries," with a thirst for experience, 
an impatience of long, hard work, lovers of excitement, build- 
ing a bonfire to attract attention. They distrust violent- 
minded men, because the violence is short-winded and 
likely to attach itself to a number of things in turn. They 
believe that violence is often the product of buried but un- 
digested emotion, not about a cause or principle, but about 
some unsolved personal inner conflict. They believe that 
" nothing that is violent endures." 

Since the immediate need of the next two years is produc- 
tion of goods in exchange for essential imports, and of goods 
to replace the vast waste of war (houses, rolling-stock, ma- 
chinery), I do not see the British forcing an artificial eco- 
nomic crisis in order to build a bran-new society out of a total 
wreck. On the one hand, the workers will demand unceas- 
ingly the acceptance of the new principles of nationalization 
and workers' control. On the other hand, the workers will 
grant time for the application of these principles in their mul- 
tiple patiently devised details. To remold institutions to the 
needs of to-morrow, to shape aspirations into a policy, re- 
quires fundamental brain work which as yet is lacking. Im- 
partial men, such as Justice Sankey and Sir Richard Red- 
mayne, have condemned the old order as Lincoln condemned 
slavery. It remains for the Government to seal the condem- 
nation and begin building. If the principles are not accepted, 
the workers now have it in their power to destroy the present 
economic system. But they prefer the step-by-step method, 
which means progressive organic change. This means the 
installation of the Socialist State, with workers' control, not 
by armed insurrection or sudden syndicalist paralysis, but by 
votes and trade-union pressure, applied over a period of " five, 



260 THE SUMMING UP 

ten, fifteen years" (in Mr. Smillie's phrase) or "ten, fifteen, 
twenty years" (in the phrase of Mr. Hodges). 

Britain's business men, her governing group, will have to 
accept the new position of labor in society, because they can 
do nothing else. Only as equals in a progressively Socialistic 
State will labor pull full stroke. As long as labor lags, and 
strikes, and sulks, expenditure outpaces production, and capi- 
tal evaporates. Bankruptcy is the only outcome of the pres- 
ent process which is wasting away what was once a living 
organism. 

" We'll give them anything, if only they will work," I heard 
a noble earl, who is a great employer, say. " We'll agree, be- 
cause we have to." 

There will be no bloodshed in effecting this change, only a 
creeping paralysis until the clamant demands for equality are 
granted and enacted. But this crumble and fresh cohesion 
will not be sudden. 

Extremists of the Socialist Labor Party, and one or two of 
the Guildsmen prophesy a logical and dramatic disintegration 
in the next two years. But I think that their diagnosis is 
over-simplified, and lacks recognition of the international eco- 
nomic position. There is more elasticity to the capitalistic 
system than they think. We are in the slump which has fol- 
lowed every modern war, and which registers itself in the mal- 
adjustment of demobilization and in a psychological state of 
bitterness and unwillingness to work. These phenomena are 
familiar to every country that has conducted a large-scale war. 
They are only new to the experience of England, and have 
resulted in stimulating the prophetic gifts of her brilliant 
young men. 

Will the worker continue to practice ca* canny? He will 
not, because he cannot. The economic position is such that 
fear and hunger will operate once again as they used to op- 
erate. The financial condition of Britain will be presented to 
the workers by men like Lloyd George, playing on the nation- 
alistic nerve. The worker is facing poverty under any sys- 
tem, and poverty worse than any known in recent years. The 






THE SUMMING UP 261 

i 
dramatic contest of workers and owners will be undercut by 

primary poverty for the whole nation. 

England is delicately balanced in a system of international 
credits, of which America holds the purse. America can 
manipulate food, raw materials, and credits. She has already 
captured many of the South American markets, and will seek 
to capture those of Central Europe. Unconsciously certain 
of her governing group would see England reduced to a 
minor outpost of the race. But they do not wish to let Eng- 
land be ruined — merely to be weakened to the second rank. 
Now this international economic process will divert labor from 
any of the moving-picture performances which various groups 
are prophesying. 

The present maladjustment, then, which is in part the result 
of tired nerves, will soon be followed by a period of produc- 
tivity — replenishing of rolling-stock, houses, machinery. This 
will still be financed on paper money. 

Then comes the third period, that of paying for the War. 
The poverty then will not come as the result of a crash, but 
will slowly creep in. Wages will remain high, but prices 
will climb. Many young men will emigrate. In that third 
long period will come labor's chance. 

Already the first period of demobilization and maladjust- 
ment is merging into the second period of employment and 
production. In the first half of the year 1919, a few of the 
intellectuals in the trade-union movement were trying to 
speed up the workers to the creation of an artificial crisis, 
which would have found the workers unready, and so would 
have weakened their movement. There was a brief period 
when it looked possible to engineer a crash. The results 
would have been poverty and subjection. The time has not 
come for the final trial of strength between workers and 
owners. 

The Intellectuals 

The intellectuals in the trade-union movement are not nu- 
merous, but they are busy workers. So close is the harmony 



262 THE SUMMING UP 

in which they and the industrialists sing that it is difficult to 
tell which portion of a manifesto in time of crisis is written 
by an impassioned labor leader locked in combat with the 
grim giants of capitalism, and which is the insidious philos- 
ophy of a cool young social scientist from the serene close 
of Oxford or Glasgow. I have been moved by the pure 
proletarian accent of a broadside from a transport worker only 
to find that it had been germinated and polished off in the 
laboratory of a university thinker. I once asked a machinist 
shop steward whether his well-known idea of the State was 
the result of contact with a famous young university writer. 

" I'm converting him," he replied. 

And I asked the essayist how the matter stood. 

" I'm converting him," he answered. 

That is how close it is. It is an interwoven movement. 
Both groups are enjoying the experience. The scholars revel 
in the tough-minded reality of being at last a part of some- 
thing with mass and motion. And the workers are pleased to 
find themselves provided with a vocabulary and a philosophy. 

To take one group of intellectuals, the Guildsmen, who have 
powerfully affected the thinking of trade-union members. In 
the last five years, the Guildsmen have done a service akin to 
that done by Blatchford for a former generation. They 
don't write as simply nor as vigorously as Blatchford did in 
" Merrie England," but they, like him, are evangelists. They 
have carried on excellent Salvation Army work in popular- 
izing the idea of a British brand of syndicalism. They have 
domesticated that immense dynamic. But for them, the Cen- 
tral Labor College, the Socialist Labor Party, the I.W.W., 
French ideas, the phrases of Tom Mann, and the tracts of 
Daniel De Leon would have perhaps been the only deposit 
of syndicalism and industrial unionism. The result would 
have been a small minority of workers over-stimulated with 
a doctrine that omitted one-half the truth. But Orage, Cole, 
Mellor, Hobson, Bechhofer, Reckitt, and a few others rendered 
the alien vocabulary into a British blend which pleased the 
palate like Lipton's tea. 



THE SUMMING UP 263 

This earnest, tiny group (a few hundred in all the King- 
dom) appear in various service uniforms and play many parts. 
As university graduates, they are at the heart of the Univer- 
sity Socialist Federation. As Christians, they are Church 
Socialists, sapping the Established Church. As Guildsmen, 
they conduct a league, honeycombing the trade unions. As 
investigators, they are the Labor Research Department, affil- 
iated to important members of the trade-union movement. 
As Fabians, they buffet Sidney Webb. As journalists, they 
have entry to powerful newspapers and weeklies. As writers, 
their books 1 are in some instances irreplaceable because of 
the careful collection of facts and the understanding of cur- 
rents of tendency. But their great service has been that of 
agitators with a smashing generalization. Perhaps no group 
of young, ardent men with a message ever had a more for- 
tunate fate. 

Workers' Control 

Having done their job manfully, their function is ending. 
What is wanted now is no longer agitation, but education. 
What is wanted is training for the workers in self-govern- 
ment. Fact studies are needed, and lines of functional de- 
velopment suggested. The apocalyptical vision must now be 
turned upon some pit or workshop, and show just where the 
worker can take hold, and begin his career of control. I 
attended both sessions of the Coal Commission hoping to 
get something more than Wilsonian abstractions, but came 
out by that same door wherein I went. 2 

No bridge is being built between their Day of Judgment — 
which is to come within a year or two " when the capitalistic 
system crumbles " — and the day of workers' control. The 
system of workers' control presupposes four things: that 

I. The workers wish control. 

1 Such are An Introduction to Trade Unionism, Self -Government in 
Industry, The Payment of Wages. 

2 See the evidence of G. D. H. Cole, Appendix, Section 3, Chapter 
III. 



264 THE SUMMING UP 

2. The workers are capable of control. 

3. The technical, managerial, and directive men will co- 
operate. 1 

1 The organ of the rail way men, The Railway Review, on August 15, 
1919: 

"Those engaged in an industry simply are those persons essential 
to the industry, from the new boy or girl to the general manager. 
The boards of directors we will leave out of the account, as, although 
they have been and perhaps now are essential, with the change of 
ownership of railways they will become obsolete, even as the share- 
holders who elect them and for whom they act will become obsolete. 

" The hard fact that must be realized is that under any form of 
ownership the assistance of the managerial classes in controlling 
industry is not merely desirable, but necessary. 

" In conversation with the manager of a manufacturing firm recently, 
which owned a branch in Moscow, we asked him what was his out- 
look there? 'We are doing very well there/ was the reply; 'they 
cleared us out when the Bolsheviks came in, but in six weeks they 
sent for us back to manage the place, the workmen could not run it 
by themselves/ The moral is almost too obvious to dilate. There 
were things in the control of industry of which the machine minder 
had no conception until he faced them, and failed. The ' dictatorship 
of the proletariat' failed in practice because the 'rank and file' 
failed to recognize that the management was an essential part of the 
scheme of production. We have to win, not to destroy, the man- 
agerial classes. 

" So far as we are concerned in the railway industry, control by 
those in the industry will follow a line of evolution perhaps almost as 
unconsciously as the principle of ' recognition ' came into being. Rec- 
ognition came with industrial power, and there is no definite date upon 
which we could have said to have achieved recognition. 

" Control is the evolutionary period following upon recognition, 
and it can be said that in recognition there is the embryo of control. 
Recently the Executive Committee of the National Union of Rail- 
waymen decided that certain regulations with respect to men on 
certain railways required readjustment, and notified the desire of the 
men for rectification. The desires of the men operating through the 
Executive of the Union were fulfilled, and in these recent examples 
we have concrete evidence of the beginning of some measure of con- 
trol by those at the bottom. 

" There can be no fixed definition in the meaning of control. Evo- 
lution impelled by the aggregate desire of those who share in the 



THE SUMMING UP i 265 

4. The consumer will acquiesce. 

1 suggest that those four things are not obtainable within 
one or two years, but are five to twenty-five years distant. 1 

Mr. Cole's inability to produce facts in substantiation of 
his statement on workers' control 2 (his evidence on the 
Derbyshire pit committees), was clearly a disappointment to 
Mr. Justice Sankey, and forced him to turn to the public 
administrator solution of Lord Haldane, 3 rather than to a 
formulation of workers' control. Mr. Justice Sankey incor- 
porated the suggestions of Lord Haldane because he was in 
easy mastery of his facts and because he dealt at length with 
the problem of motive in industry. Sankey was forced to 
reject the suggestions of the Guild witness, because, promis- 
ing facts, he gave none, and generalizing on " aspiration," 
and " inspiration," he did not reveal knowledge of instincts 
in industry. It is conceivable that a well-grounded statement 
of workers' control might have won for the miners a recog- 
nition that will now be delayed through a transition period of 
several years. 

Mr. Harold Laski reminds us that the French groups in 
administration have not laid down dicta " whether, for exam- 
ple, promotion would be self-regulating, or a matter of internal 
choice, or of election by the members of the particular 
service." 

But Justice Sankey had to consider these very questions in 
determining the constitution of the coal industry. And the 
evidence and the Sankey Report show that Lord Haldane 
and Sidney Webb and the London School of Economics had 

labor of production must work its course, and in due order of 
patience and time our object in spirit will be achieved in fact. The 
consciousness of our aim must be the guiding line." 

1 1 refer to the full program. The first steps have been taken. In- 
creasing control is demanded by the rank and file. But what the per- 
centage of control will finally be no one knows. 

2 Appendix III, Chapter III. 

3 Appendix V, Chapter III. 



266 THE SUMMING UP 

at least one sort of answer, which had a basis of facts in 
collected experience but that the Guild Socialists had failed to 
establish their case in the mind of the Judge. 

Bureaucratic control by the Government is not acceptable to 
Labor. 

Control by manual labor is impossible except by long general 
education and special training. 

Control under a new type of State Administrator is the 
Sankey solution. This will be acceptable to the miners in the 
transition period (see Mr. Hodges' chapter). 

Justice Sankey reports (see Appendix IV, Chapter I) : 

" The war has demonstrated the potentiality of the existence 
of a new class of men who are just as keen to serve the State 
as they are to serve a private employer and who have been shown 
to possess the qualities of courage in taking initiative necessary 
for the running of our industry." 

Professor Alfred Marshall says in Industry and Trade: 

"Unless Guild organization develops some notion, of which it 
at present seems to have made no forecast, it may probably drift 
into chaos, from which relief can be found only in a military 
despotism. In this matter (discipline), as in some others, Mr. 
Cole seems to follow closely in the paths of St. Simon, Fourier, 
and other early socialists of noble character and vivid poetic 
imagination. The last new version of the Golden Age is to bring 
out latent powers of goodness in human nature; the task of 
regulation is to be as simple as it would be if all men were as 
unselfish and earnest as the writer himself: the vast difficulties of 
modern business organization are so completely left out of ac- 
count as to imply that they have never been seriously studied." 

But Professor Marshall also states: 

"The State can now look to the main body of workers as the 
source of much of that higher administrative work, which used 
to belong almost exclusively to the well-to-do. This change was 
emphasized by the Whitley Report, and it will be promoted by 
Joint Industrial Councils; though their efforts may not reach far 



THE SUMMING UP 267 

towards a wide dissemination of the supreme tasks of conceiving 
new ventures, weighing their promises and their risks, and making 
a wise selection." 

On this point of " upper control," Justice Sankey in his 
Final Report states: 

It is true that in the minds of many men there is a fear that 
State ownership may stifle incentive, but to-day we are faced in 
the coal fields with increasing industrial unrest and a constant 
strife between modern labor and modern capital. 

I think that the danger to be apprehended from the certainty 
of the continuance of this strife in the coal-mining industry out- 
weighs the danger arising from the problematical fear of the risk 
of the loss of incentive. 

As recently as 1916, acting in the capacity of president and 
chairman, Harry Gosling was telling the Trades Union Con- 
gress that workers' control did not include commercial control. 

The offer of the British Government to the railwaymen 
gives through a Conciliation and Arbitration Committee equal 
power to labor with that of management on questions inside 
the area covered by collective bargaining. But the problem 
is what percentage of Commercial Control has now come 
under Collective negotiation. The Government offer is that 
of a 25 per cent representation on an Advisory Com- 
mittee to the Minister of Mines — 4 members out of 16. The 
railway executives possess the other 75 per cent. How much 
control would such an Advisory Committee possess? The 
answer would probably be the same amount as the War Cabinet 
had in relation to the Premier. That amount is a variable. 
On many matters it is full control. On some, no control. 
This 25 per cent of control represents a minimum first offer. 

Manual labor (which itself is a composite of skilled, semi- 
skilled, and unskilled) is only one functional group in the 
community composed of many functional groups. The 
financier, the administrator, the technical man, the engineer, 
the salesman, the manager make six other groups. Much 



268 THE SUMMING UP 

recent discussion of workers' control has burked the problem 
of co-ordinating these various highly self-conscious groups 
inside self-government. It was not difficult to formulate the 
demands of the workers in former generations, because the 
instinctive reactions were simple to read. More money and 
less work — that was as easy to hit right as to know what 
a drowning man wants. 

But when we enter the region of progressive self-govern- 
ment, the devolution of power to associated groups, we pass 
over from the psychology of the servile, suffering, rebellious, 
but collectively unified consciousness of a mass to the various 
reactions of those groups. We shall have " a revolt of the 
technician, the electrician, the chemist, the artist, the de- 
signer, the manager. We, too, want to have self-determina- 
tion; we want to have control over our working life. The 
function of the draughtsman is to draw plans; he will draw 
plans as he likes, and will not be tyrannized over by the 
manual workers for whom he is drawing plans." 

Will the manual worker command in his own sphere, but 
be in a position of obedience for those functions outside his 
sphere? Capitalism has given a measure of freedom to the 
expert. 

Mr. Frank Hodges, speaking for the miners, accepts for 
these next years a minority control by the manual worker 
under nationalization. He looks to the day when the workers 
shall have won over the managerial and technical men. 
" When we make provision for them to come in, we shall be 
jointly in a position to nominate ourselves the personnel of 
the national council. They would be the persons to determine 
the annual output of coal, to determine the price of coal. 
They would also deal with the finance of the industry. It is 
contemplated that the finances shall be determined by the na- 
tional mining council as distinct from the Exchequer." 

This process "will take time — ten, fifteen, twenty years," 
he says. 

It is the conscious and influential minority of labor who 
press for " effective " workers' control. The majority are 



THE SUMMING UP 269 

inert. Social workers in Sheffield have published an investiga- 
tion into " The Equipment of the Workers." They found 
three-quarters of the manual workers whom they studied to 
be either imperfectly equipped or mal-equipped. This igno- 
rance registers itself in indifference to extensions of democracy. 
The trade unions are controlled by a minority. Branch meet- 
ing are poorly attended. Votes on vital industrial questions 
are generally minority votes. On a vote on the 47-hour week, 
64,000 out of 300,000 voted (21%) in the Amalgamated So- 
ciety of Engineers. 

The experience of the Wool and Cotton War Boards does 
not suggest that the workers are awake to an opportunity of 
control when it is offered, nor that they are ready to use 
their power to make that opportunity permanent. It would 
be profitable to supplement the large paper programs of 
control with a fact study of how far actual control has pro- 
ceeded, and what functions the workers are now willing and 
ready to take over. The Guildsmen gave me two instances 
— one of a young idealist in Leeds, whose first experiment 
failed, and whose present experiment is so tiny as to indicate 
little but good will. The other instance was that of a large 
firm which forthwith failed. Going concerns like " Hans 
Renold's " have reported that they wish their shop stewards 
to take over more control. Mr. C. G. Renold instances the 
matter of discipline, where the shop stewards requested him 
to carry on and not give them the unpleasant job. 

The path into workers' control is a thick tangle. 1 The only 
thing clear is that the workers wish more control. Some say 

1 This is the British way: to push on into the jungle without a map 
or a compass, but with an instinct for direction. They write good his- 
tory of their journeying, a generation or a century later, but they keep 
no chronicle of the day as it falls. They chop away at the facts till 
vast heaps lie along their path. They attempt no collection, no clas- 
sification, no analysis, no synthesis, till they near the end of what 
would have been an easier journey, if they had used a scientific im- 
agination. But no one else had ever made the journey, nor would 
have made it but for the track they blasted. 



270 THE SUMMING UP 

(the syndicalists) they want complete control. But how 
much of the ache would be alleviated by good living and 
working conditions, no man knows. Their suffering is clear 
to them. But the thing they suffer from and the remedy are 
not clear. It was only ninety years ago that the workers 
felt that the vote would represent the sum of their desires. 
The- miner, railwayman, machinist, reacts to his job. He 
feels himself thwarted at certain points of the industrial proc- 
ess. He longs to reach out and clear up the mess of routine 
and red tape and mismanagement in which he finds his will 
to work tangled. He talks over his disgusts and aspirations at 
the branch or the public house. He meets other minds battling 
like his. In one way or another, that experience of his is 
passed on and intensified as it speaks to the experience of a 
dozen, a hundred, a thousand others. That complex of im- 
pressions, thwartings, and desires, warm and human, is wait- 
ing to be sharpened and shaped into orderly thought and 
then into a program of action. He is told he is throbbing be- 
cause of British troops in Egypt. He wonders. But when 
his wages are reduced, he does not need to be told that a 
live nerve has been touched. Which functions of workers' 
control as yet touch that live nerve? 

Need of Psychology 

The young intellectuals of Britain who show interest in 
labor are singularly unaware of the nature of this material 
under examination. The great instinctive movement of the 
workers is pushing on. Theirs not to reason why. But it is 
emphatically the business of students of the labor movement 
to use the apparatus and technique which have been laid down 
by men like Graham Wallas. They are telling the workers 
what the workers want, without themselves possessing an 
equipment in the data of modern psychology. They write 
rationalistic paragraphs about " service " and " motives " and 
" economic f orces," without at all realizing that there are 
instincts in industry which break those Victorian Oxford 



THE SUMMING UP 271 

ideas into fine splinters. There is much patient work to be 
done in the psychology of the skilled worker, the unskilled, 
the casual, the technician, the manager, before they can be at 
all jammed into facilely devised categories and marshaled, 
like two sets of chessmen, into neat opposing forces, to be 
moved by the Capablanca of the intellectuals. 

One of the distinguished English economists, himself a 
Guildsman, writes me: 

I have thought over your criticisms, and on the whole I 
agree with them as to the method, though I am not sure they very 
much affect the substance of the Guildsmen's conclusions. My 
only criticism on Graham Wallas's work (which I admire) is that 
it is sometimes a rearrangement under new categories of matter 
which is already familiar, and which, when rearranged, does not 
suggest very different conclusions. Granted that man is not 
" rational," what is the practical application thereof? Presumably 
that he should be as rational as he can. No doubt political terms 
are likely to be strained when transferred to the sphere of eco- 
nomics, e.g., " self-government " in industry. But is it necessary 
to prove the psychological malaise which arises when men are 
unable to exercise any effective control over their social environ- 
ment? Is it not legitimate to assume it, and to argue on that 
hypothesis? 

I believe it is necessary to have a correct diagnosis before 
applying the remedy. Otherwise, like ancient doctors, we may 
bleed the patient white. 

Another Guildsman has published the following, entitled 
Graham Wallas on Democracy — the Fabianism of 1895: 

Wallas has a sort of low-voiced Nonconformist sincerity 
about him, which is only slightly spoiled by a tendency to occa- 
sional bawling. There is a curious impartiality about his utter- 
ance, an almost imbecile absence of preference, which exalts him 
or degrades him according to the mood of the listener. ... It 
can readily be discerned from what has been given above that, 
in spite of a knowledge of social psychology and an array of 
modern instances, Graham Wallas is still the enlightened " Drey- 
fusard." 



272 THE SUMMING UP 

In the Socratic dialogue of the New Republic (May 31, 
1919), Walter Lippmann says: 

I am inclined to believe that an effective social science is 
impossible which does not seek the hidden motives behind overt 
acts. 

And Harold Laski responds: 

We start with a complex of impulses — all of them strivings 
for the realization of personality. We find that a state such as 
our own can satisfy the strivings of relatively few of its members. 
I am anxious to record my sense that the political scientists are 
never going seriously to grapple with their problems until (like 
Walter Lippmann and Graham Wallas) they realize the bearing 
of psychological discovery. 

The limitations of the group of Guildsmen (with notable 
exceptions, including J. Paton and Frank Hodges) are an 
ignorance of the facts concerning workers' control, and an 
unawareness of the need for a psychological approach to the 
material under investigation. Their brilliant and incompara- 
ble pioneering now needs to be supplemented by the massive 
and minute work of men like Sidney Webb, in one field, and of 
Graham Wallas and Harold Laski, Lord Haldane and Mr. 
Justice Sankey, in other fields. 

They have not thought through on the problem of manage- 
ment (technical, commercial, and executive). 

Is the managerial group to be supplied from the ranks of 
labor? 

Is the present managerial group to be taken over by labor 
and employed as a high-salaried class under labor control, as 
now it is the servant of the capitalistic class? 

Is the present managerial group to become a part of the 
labor movement? If so, will it be merged, or remain a dis- 
tinct group? 

If a distinct group, will it have power in relation to its 
numerical strength, or in relation to its functional value? 

Schemes and bills for workers' control must as yet include 



THE SUMMING UP 273 

special representation for the technical and directive group — 
along some such line as the Plumb plan. Otherwise the job 
of " persuading " the managers will be as millennial as that of 
Christianizing the capitalist. The engineering draughtsmen, 
a few colliery managers, bank clerks, and the like, who have 
been converted to a world fit for producers, are not a suffi- 
cient answer to this problem of how to carry the managerial 
group over into self-government. 

The consumer must be safeguarded and so convinced. The 
way has not been shown. 

Shaw says, "Without qualified rulers a Socialist State is 
impossible. ,, 

As usual, Webb has long been tackling this not by talking, 
but by training administrators. Evidence on this, given by 
Lord Haldane, will be found in the Appendix in New Class 
of Government Servant. 

The only detailed study of workers' control in Britain has 
been made by an American, Mr. Carter Goodrich, under the 
title of The Frontier of Control. His book is indispensable 
for one who would know the area of control (much of it 
negative, the control of restrictions and veto, and legislative 
minima) which has already been obtained by the workers, 
and the direction in which they are pushing their frontier into 
new territory. His sharp analysis breaks up " discipline and 
management " into their fact-content, and their psychological 
hinterland. Mr. Goodrich's study is only a beginning. The 
whole region of instincts in industry — in simple language, 
what the workers want — remains to be plumbed and explored. 
But his investigation shows what is needed. 

In dealing with a matter like workers' control, or nationali- 
zation, or a forty-eight-hour week, the British way is to let 
trouble heap up through several years, denying there is any 
trouble, till it bursts into a crisis. Then a scratch committee 
of experts is appointed, who work at breack-neck speed, pool 
their opinions, and produce a report of recommendations on 
what to do to be saved. This is drafted as a Parliamentary 
Bill, and becomes an act, a law. By this good-natured optimis- 



274 THE SUMMING UP 

tic postponing way of theirs, the British are able to enjoy life 
as a series of emergencies which sometimes approach disaster. 
But the actual legislation is often the result of long stealthy 
patient propaganda. Ideas blow up and down the country- 
side, like seeds on the wind, and at last find lodgment in the 
collective mind. After many years they result in legislation. 
A law once passed cannot be killed. It takes root and be- 
comes an institution, altering society. 

The tendency in British society has long been to idle at the 
top and to pauperize at the bottom. Institutions have strength- 
ened this tendency, because legislation has favored it. A large 
section of the upper and middle class are small owners 
(rentiers) and take life gently. Slackness has seeped into the 
fiber of the race. v In their attitude toward work, many Britons 
— in all classes — have a faint scorn. The customer is at the 
mercy of the shopowner or clerk, who continues whatever he 
is amusing himself with, in order to teach the customer his 
place. That the consumer has the right to call the tune for 
the producer, is a truth not widely known in Britain. Work, 
being scorned, has been poorly paid. Out of black poverty 
have sprung the ills that now weight England down. Instead 
of rewarding work with a living wage, she has let some of 
her workers §ink into misery, and then she has slapped plas- 
ters on the running sore. Increasingly, England has been us- 
ing State doles and palliatives, and she has somewhat rotted 
the sturdy English nature. She has built her philosophy of 
social reform out of the statistics of misery. 

The Year 

This staleness has misled her enemies into believing that 
recovery and renewal were not for her. Each generation they 
have thought they saw her stumbling to ruin. But in her 
heavy-hooved lumbering way she takes the seven-barred 
gate. 1 

1 Maurice Hewlett wrote in The Daily News of October 15, 1919: 
"The other day the village was celebrating the birthday of its La- 



THE SUMMING UP 275 

To sum up the year in simple sentences : 

The reconstructive program of the Government is still a 
paper scheme. 

Labor has taken only its first step (wages and hours) to- 
ward a new society. 

borers' Union in a manner which used to be reserved for the coming 
of age of the Squire's son. 

" It was sober merry-making after our manner, yet one could feel 
the undercurrent of a triumph not difficult to understand. Not a 
man there but knew, or had heard his father tell, of how things used 
to be. Ten years ago those men were earning sixteen shillings a 
week for twelve hours a day; fifteen years ago they were earning 
twelve shillings; thirty years ago they were earning nine shillings; a 
hundred years ago they were on the rates, herded about in conscript 
gangs under the hectorings of an overseer. Now— and it has seemed 
to come all in a moment— the humblest of them earn their 36s. 6d.; 
the head men their 40s.; their hours are down to fifty-four for the 
week, with a half-holiday on Saturday; delegates of their kind sit at 
a board in Trowbridge face to face and of equal worth with delegates 
of their employers. All matters affecting their status, housing, terms 
of employment, can be brought before the board; and beside that, and 
behind it, like a buttress, there is a Union, whose name recalls that 
other grim fortress to which alone in times bygone they had to look 
when old age was upon them. This new union has been in existence 
here little more than a twelvemonth, but they know now that it has 
spread all over England. 

"They know more than that. They know that this plexus of 
organizations is not only social, but political; they feel that the estate 
of the realm which they stand for may soon become, and must before 
long become, the predominant estate. They feel the rising tide 
already lifting them off their feet. The elders are sobered by the 
flood; but the young ones taste the salt water sprayed off the crest of 
the wave, and look at each other, laugh and cheer. If they rejoice 
they have good reason, knowing what they know; and if I rejoice 
with them, I think that I have good reason too. This time three 
years ago I sang at length of Hodge and his plow ; and looking back 
and forth over his blood-stained, sweat-stained, and tear-stained his- 
tory, I seemed to see what was coming to him as the crown of his 
thousand years of toil. 

" The peasant now has his foot on the degrees of the throne, and 
has only to step up, he and his mates of the mine, the forge, the 
foundry, and the railroad — to step up and lay hand to the orb and 
scepter." 



276 THE SUMMING UP 

The emergence from the most costly, the most murderous 
war in human history has been made in good order. Britain 
has weathered a year of weariness, bitterness, disillusion, with 
surprising success. 

Such an achievement promises that the vast economic 
changes of the next ten years will be made in British fashion 
by conciliation, compromise, and constitutional methods. Only 
wildness and folly from the Government, employers, owners, 
and the middle class can now turn the workers from their 
program of orderly conquest of power. 

Little can be done in education for another year till the 
reports of local boards are sent in. The dearth of teachers 
will be felt for long. It will require several years to reap 
results from the Fisher Education Act. 

The Sankey report for nationalization of the coal mines has 
been rejected by the Government. But no settlement will be 
reached till the mines are nationalized. 

The Government failed in its attempt to lower the wages 
of the railwaymen. And now it has offered the railwaymen 
the largest instalment of workers' control ever officially pro- 
posed for a key industry, including seats on the commercial 
directorate. 1 

The nearer labor approaches its day of power, the more 
does it slow up and develop responsibility, and the fainter 
grow the voices of extremists. I think no intelligent person 
fears excesses from labor. " I fear timidity and lack of im- 
agination on the part of labor," said a University Liberal to 
me. The leaders of labor are constitutionalists, who desire 
neither bloodshed nor paralysis. They wish a steady next-step 
progress to the Socialist State, with workers' control. Those 
leaders are Smillie, Hodges, Clynes, Henderson, Thomas, 
Gosling. 

It has been a year in which labor has been weak politically 
and strong industrially, though in a manner jerky and sec- 
tional. Labor is weak politically and yet so steady is the drift 

1 See Appendix IV, Chapter II. 



THE SUMMING UP 277 

toward workers* control that at the end of the year in mu- 
nicipal elections, labor won thirteen out of the twenty-eight 
London boroughs, and captured the Mayoralty in sixteen more 
cities and boroughs of Britain. 

Three classes remain to be heard from when the echoes of 
this year cease rolling : 

i. The returned soldiers. 

2. The young men, such of them as are left after a world 
war. 

3. The women. 

One of the great thinkers of England has said, " I believe 
that our industrial system is dying. ... It may be that the 
industrial revolution was a biological mistake, that the human 
organism is not adapted to that kind of life." In any case, 
the workers are determined to control that industrial sys- 
tem and to attack the "irremediable joylessness of human 
condition." 



APPENDIX 



SECTION ONE 
THE EMPLOYERS 

CHAPTER I 

FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES. 1 — THE CON- 
TROL OF INDUSTRY.— REPORT OF THE NATION- 
ALIZATION COMMITTEE 

INTRODUCTION 

Before we attempt to deal with the important issues which will 
be discussed in this Report, we desire to set out a few facts 
regarding the conditions under which the industry of the world 
is at present carried on. 

Development of the Industrial System 

At the present time the capitalist system is the basis of the 
whole of the productive enterprise of the civilized world. 

At the beginning of the 19th century the population of England 
and Wales did not much exceed 8 millions, and its standard of 
living was low. By the end of the century the population was 
nearly quadrupled, having reached a very much greater number 
than can possibly be supported from the internal resources of the 
country, and yet the standard of living of all classes of the com- 
munity had been considerably raised. The great increase of pro- 
duction which made this possible was entirely achieved under the 
capitalist system. 

Production cannot take place except through the previous 
accumulation of wealth by the efforts and savings of individuals, 
and the capitalist system has provided the best machinery hitherto 
discovered for enabling and encouraging the individual to accumu- 
late wealth and devote it to production. 

It has preserved the fluidity which is needed to insure progress 
and to encourage the re-adaptation continually necessitated by 
changing conditions and new inventions and discoveries, while 

!The Federation represents 16,000 firms and nearly five thousand 
million pounds of capital. 

281 



282 THE EMPLOYERS 

providing unequaled means of encouraging those engaged in pro- 
duction to ascertain and fulfil the requirements of the individual 
consumer. 

The needs of a civilized population are so varied and its de- 
mands change so rapidly that a considerable risk is involved in all 
productive undertakings. 

The capitalist system has offered the maximum inducement to 
every citizen to take part in the great adventure of productive 
enterprise, which has maintained the world and made civilization 
possible. At the same time the risk of personal loss involved has 
tended to restrain reckless and uneconomical production. 

The above considerations apply with redoubled force to the 
export trade, in which the risks are greater and the requirements 
of the consumer more varied and more difficult to ascertain than 
in the home trade. The population of this country could not 
have existed and cannot continue to exist without a large export 
of manufactured goods to pay for the raw materials and food- 
stuffs which must be imported for its subsistence. The capitalist 
system has afforded ideal means for developing our Export Trade. 

Growth of Competition 

In many cases the rapid increase of production led to the growth 
of an intense competition, involving destructive undercutting of 
prices and unnecessary duplication of activity and plant. 

The elasticity of the capitalist system enabled it to adapt itself 
automatically to the changing conditions, by the development of 
large industrial combinations, thus decreasing unnecessary and 
wasteful competition, and securing to the world the economies of 
large-scale production. 

Development of Combinations 

This development is a normal and necessary feature of the 
industrial evolution consequent upon the use of power-driven 
machinery. Moreover we believe that the development has been 
of definite benefit to the consumer by standardizing and steadying 
production and reducing costs. 

The Addendum to the Report of the Government Committee 
on Trusts (Cd. 9236) which was signed by Messrs. Ernest Bevin, 
J. A. Hobson, W. H. Watkins, and Sidney Webb contains the fol- 
lowing statement : " We have to recognize that association and 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 283 

combination in production and distribution are steps in the greater 
efficiency, the increased economy and the better organization of 
industry. We regard this evolution as inevitable and de- 
sirable." 

Moreover the commercial competition of other nations becomes 
every year more and more intense. This makes the principle of 
combination absolutely essential if British Industry is to hold 
its own at home and abroad. 

If, therefore, the present industrial system is to reach its full 
efficiency as a means of satisfying the requirements of the com- 
munity, the evolution towards large-scale organization must be 
encouraged and not discouraged. At the same time it must be 
remembered that the administration of large centralized concerns 
is still in an experimental stage, and only experience can discover 
how best to eliminate the inherent difficulties. Meanwhile the 
development of combinations of capital is undoubtedly responsible 
for some of the present unrest in the industrial world, for the 
following reasons: 

Relations between Producer and Consumer 

The growth of monopolistic combinations has disquieted, and 
occasionally led to the exploitation of the consumer, though this 
latter feature has, almost certainly, been greatly exaggerated. In 
this connection we would refer to the following statement by 
Dr. J. W. Jenks, the well-known authority who has been intrusted 
by the Government of the United States with the drafting of anti- 
trust legislation : " Contrary to public opinion, a careful study of 
the charts indicates that the effect of these combinations taking 
their history as a whole has not been to increase prices to the 
consumers, though at certain times and for relatively short 
periods they have doubtless increased prices." (The Trust 
Problem, Chapter IX). 

Relations between Capital and Labor 

The aggregation of capital into large units has led to the sepa- 
ration of the owner of capital from the workers he employs. 
Formerly the owner of capital generally took an active part in 
the direction of his business. The business was on a small scale, 
and he was directly in contact with his workers. Now the owners 
of capital in any large concern may be hundreds of thousands, 



284 THE EMPLOYERS 

and the size of the unit is such that management must be by 
deputies sub-divided into various grades, and little if any per- 
sonal contact can exist between the owners of capital and the 
men employed. 

Waste of National Resources 

Another disadvantage which has arisen from the rapid develop- 
ment of industry has been the great waste caused in some of the 
world's essential resources. 

The need for some adequate safe-guarding of the interests of 
the community in the future becomes evident, when we consider 
the reckless using up of the future resources of the world, such 
as has been manifest, for example, in the United States of 
America. The voluminous Report of the American National Con- 
servation Commission in 1909 gives the facts in striking detail. 
We read there the story of " the robbing of the soil " by the 
prairie farmer, the destruction of the forest by the "lumber 
kings," the reckless exhaustion of the oil fields, the frittering away 
of the potential water power, the neglect of irrigation, the loss of 
wealth by coast-erosion and river inundation — showing in the 
aggregate a vast economic waste. 

THE DEMANDS OF LABOR 

The remedies which the Labor and Socialist Parties suggest for 
the difficulties which have been referred to above are : 

J. Nationalisation 

(a) To prevent the possible exploitation of the consumer by 
the monopolies which may result from the centralization neces- 
sary to the efficiency of certain industries and public services. 

(b) To supervise and co-ordinate the development of essential 
national resources. 

2. Democratic Control by the Workers 

To prevent the alleged exploitation of Labor by Capital, both 
in regard to — 

(a) Conditions of employment. 

(b) Division of the rewards of industry. 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 285 



I.— NATIONALIZATION 

The word nationalization is used loosely to cover a great many 
forms of communistic enterprise, e.g., State ownership, State 
ownership combined with State management, municipal enterprise, 
etc. These various forms all raise different considerations which 
cannot be discussed in detail in a report of this character. We 
propose therefore to set out our views by means of a number 
of general statements. 

State Management 

We would begin by laying it down as a general proposition 
that centralized management by a Government Department is 
fatal to commercial efficiency and enterprise. We observe that 
those members of the Government Committee on Trusts who 
signed the Addendum to the Report of the Committee (Messrs. 
E. Bevin, J. A. Hobson, W. H. Watkins, and Sidney Webb) were 
careful to safeguard themselves by stating that State ownership 
does not necessarily imply State management, while Mr. Justice 
Sankey in his Report on the Second Stage of the Coal Industry 
Commission stated {see para. xlii. ) that " Hitherto State Man- 
agement has on balance failed to prove itself free from serious 
shortcomings." The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher, who as Minister of 
Trade and Customs in the Government of New Zealand (1912- 
191 5) has had practical experience of Socialistic Government, 
made the following remarks in his evidence before the Coal 
Commission : 

"I hold the view that State monopoly is even a worse evil than 
private monopoly — the latter must be efficient in order to resist private 
competition on the one hand, and prevent the demand for State inter- 
vention on the other. The State has no such grounds for efficiency." 

Sir Keith Price, Director of the Raw Materials Section of the 
Ministry of Munitions in 191 5 and Deputy Director-General 1916 
to 1 91 7, in his evidence gave a full summary of the objections to 
bureaucratic management, as follows: 

" My experience of those Government factories which were in 
existence previous to the war confirms me in the opinion that Gov- 
ernment factories cannot be operated on competitive or economic lines, 



286 THE EMPLOYERS 

owing to the cumbersome nature of the procedure, which is inevitable 
under Parliamentary and Departmental control. 

"Among the objections against Government control to which I 
attach importance are the following: * 

" i. The Management having so little say in : + 

(a) The appointment and selection of staff; 

(b) The grading of salaries; 

(c) The lack of authority in dealing with labor; 

(d) The efficient maintenance of plant, i.e., the scrapping of 
obsolete plant and the installation of up-to-date plant. 

"2. The weakness of any Government organization in purchas- 
ing the raw material on competitive lines (a condition which did 
not operate during the war owing to so many prices being controlled 
and material being rationed). 

"3. The weakness of any Government organization marketing its 
products. I cannot see how this can be done satisfactorily on com- 
mercial lines without acute controversy. 

"4. Political pressure will certainly be brought to bear whenever 
questions of closing down inefficient or uneconomical concerns arise, 
or even on lesser subjects." 

We would add that all these difficulties appear to us to be 
intensified under a democratic form of Government, and in con- 
firmation of this it may be observed that the bureaucracy of 
Germany under the Imperial system, which involved subjection to 
the Imperial Executive and freedom from Parliamentary control, 
came nearest to achieving an efficiency comparable with that of 
private enterprise. It would, therefore, seem almost inevitable 
that if a nationalized industry is to achieve any high degree of 
efficiency it should be developed under a system of autocratic 
control, and the greater the extent to which the industries of the 
country are nationalized, the greater the danger that the Gov- 
ernment will tend away from those ideals of true democracy which 
have only just triumphed at the cost of so much suffering. 

Manufacturing Industries 

These inherent weaknesses of State management account for 
the fact that, while the State has at different times and in dif- 
ferent countries undertaken a wide range of those important enter- 
prises which aim at rendering a service open to the whole com- 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 287 

munity, and has, to some extent, engaged in manufacture for its 
own consumption, it has not, speaking generally, engaged in indus- 
tries aiming primarily at the production of goods for exchange. 
This is the most difficult class of productive enterprise, needing, 
if it is to be successful, the most elastic and far-sighted manage- 
ment, a close and continual study of individual requirements, and 
constant re-adaptation to meet changing conditions of demand. 

The State is obviously unsuited for enterprise of this kind, and 
it is not surprising that, although State monopolies have been 
established in certain products for purposes of revenue, the 
results have in general been most unfortunate for the consumer. 

The same can be said of municipal enterprise; this has never 
engaged to any substantial extent in the production of goods for 
exchange. 

It is, in fact, impossible for this class of production to be 
satisfactorily carried out unless the producer is subject at the 
same time to the spur of possible profit and the curb of possible 
personal loss. The civil servant or municipal employee should be 
immune from the temptation of personal profit, while the body 
which employs him (the State or Municipality), having the public 
purse behind it, is liable to fluctuate between over-caution and 
extreme recklessness. 

It is further inconceivable that an industry owned or managed 
by the State could enter into competitive trade in foreign coun- 
tries in the present stage of human development, without 
encountering difficulties both economic and political, which would 
be disastrous to any hope of amicable international relations. 
Every trade dispute would become a potential casus belli, every 
unpaid account or broken contract the subject of an ultimatum. 

And yet, as we have already pointed out, a great and increasing 
export trade is an essential of continued existence to a highly 
industrialized country such as Great Britain, dependent for a 
large proportion of her essential foodstuffs and raw materials 
upon her imports, and compelled to pay for them by the export 
of manufactured commodities. 

Public Service Industries 

Where there is no question of meeting the varying requirements 
of individual consumers, but only of supplying some public service 
open to the whole community, different considerations arise. As 



288 THE EMPLOYERS 

is well known, a substantial proportion of the essential public 
services, such as Transport, Supply of Water and Lighting, Drain- 
age, etc., in many civilized countries, is in the hands of the State 
or Municipality. The Nationalization or Municipalization of these 
services has been accelerated by the fact that these forms of 
enterprise can be run more or less by routine methods and are 
conducted on the principle of increasing returns, that is to say, 
in the words of J. S. Mill, " can only be carried out advantageously 
upon so large a scale as to render liberty of competition illusory." 
These services fall into different categories, which require separate 
consideration. Our views in regard to them are summarized in 
the following propositions: 

i. There are certain public services, such as the provision of 
Roads and Sewers, which must be handled by the State or 
Municipality, because it is either impossible or undesirable to make 
a direct charge for them. 

2. There are certain public services which involve the exercise 
of exceptional and arbitrary powers over individual or public 
property and can more efficiently be conducted as monopolies. 
Considerations of public policy often make it desirable that where 
these are of purely local importance they should be conducted by 
the Municipality. 

3. In some cases successful results have been obtained by vest- 
ing important public service organizations in special Commissions 
or bodies of Trustees nominated by the chief users and the appro- 
priate Public Authorities. 

4. There are certain Public Services, the activities of which 
must be co-ordinated over large areas if they are to obtain real 
efficiency. We suggest that the most effective way of obtaining 
this co-ordination will generally be to facilitate the amalgamation 
or co-operative working of the different undertakings in each 
area, subject to the safeguards necessary for the protection of 
the Public. 

Conclusion 

Finally, we desire to record our emphatic opinion that in dealing 
with industries or public services of whatever class, whether local 
or national, any further extension of State monopolies should be 
avoided not only for the reasons given above under the heading 
of " State Management," but also because : 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 289 

(a) The proper safeguard against private monopoly is not 
the creation of State monopolies, which are much more dan- 
gerous. The intervention of the State should aim, not at 
removing, but at preserving so far as possible the advan- 
tages of competition. 

(b) There is very grave objection to the Government 
being the employer of a large proportion of the voters upon 
whose support it depends. 

(c) The principal aim of the State must always be po- 
litical; governments are organized for political and not for 
commercial purposes and must always be overloaded with 
political work which will be their chief concern. 

(d) The existence of such monopolies makes it impossible 
for the Government to be impartial in industrial matters, 
and makes for political corruption. 

(e) It has hitherto been found impossible for the State to 
give sufficiently free play to local knowledge and experience 
in connection with the services which it administers, and over- 
centralization is hostile to progress. 

(/) State administration is always found to involve serious 
delay in the taking of decisions, even on matters of detail, 
and to be deficient in that elasticity which is essential to 
commercial success. 

(g) The fact that any deficiencies in working can be met 
out of revenue is often an irresistible temptation to uneco- 
nomical working. 

(h) Owing to the close interdependence of our different 
industries, the taking over by the State of one Industry for 
what may be considered reasons of public policy may involve 
the State in the necessity of taking over other Industries, 
the Nationalization of which would be a disaster to the com- 
munity. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 
(a) State Regulation of Monopolies 

But although we are averse to State Management, we recognize 
that the public is entitled to some protection against possible 
exploitation by monopolies. As we have already indicated, we 
think the danger of this exploitation has been greatly exaggerated, 



290 THE EMPLOYERS 

but the fear of it exists and industry should, therefore, submit 
to such intervention on behalf of the State as may be necessary 
to remove the hostility to the idea of combination which undoubt- 
edly affects certain sections of the public. 

In our opinion, the principles on which State action should be 
based are generally indicated in the Report of the Government 
Committee on Trusts, and we are prepared to support those recom- 
mendations of the Committee, which throw on the Board of Trade 
the duty (i) of inquiring into any reasonable complaints, which 
may be made with regard to the existence or action of any Trade 
Association or Combine and referring any question which may 
arise from their inquiry to a special tribunal for investigation and 
report, and (2) of recommending to the State action for the 
remedy of any grievances which the tribunal may find to be estab- 
lished. 

It will, however, be most important in carrying out any policy 
of this kind to safeguard the position of the Export Trade, and 
we regard it as essential: 

(1) That no restriction should be placed on British Industry 
which will prejudice its position in the export trade. 

(2) That care should be taken not to publish or give 
extended circulation to any information regarding the activity 
of Trade Associations or Combines, which might be useful 
to their foreign competitors. 

(b) Conservation of National Resources 

We are also of the opinion that the State should exercise the 
supervision and control necessary to insure that the national re- 
sources are not wasted, but are used to the best advantage of the 
community; this should not involve the exploitation of such re- 
sources by the State, and need not involve State ownership, but 
only the amount of regulation necessary to prevent waste. 

Note. — Co-operative Societies 

Before leaving this branch of our subject, we desire to 
mention one other form of enterprise which has done excel- 
lent work for the community, and should have considerable 
development in the future, though it can never cover more 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 291 

than a small part of the whole field of production. We refer 
to the work of the Co-operative Societies. These Societies 
are Associations of consumers who unite voluntarily with the 
idea primarily of supplying their own requirements. They 
buy the greater part of their supplies in the ordinary mar- 
kets and to that extent their work is distributive only. But 
they have established factories and workshops for making 
shoes, clothing, hardware, biscuits, etc., for their own con- 
sumption. In this they have been fairly successful and their 
success is due largely to the fact that they have an assured 
market and confine themselves to making staple goods by 
standard methods. 



II.— DEMOCRATIC CONTROL 

Scope of the Demand of Labor 

According to a writer in the Round Table for June, 1916, " The 
unrest in the industrial world to-day has not its roots solely in 
poverty and want. There is something deeper still at work. Wage- 
earners are filled with a vague but profound sentiment that the 
industrial system, as it now is, denies them the liberties, oppor- 
tunities and responsibility of free men." 

This feeling of unrest, which is naturally more characteristic 
of the intellectual section of Labor than of the rank and file of 
the workers, has given rise to the demand, which the proceedings 
of the Coal Commission have brought into prominence, for 
" Democratic Control." 

The scope of the demands of Labor under this head ranges 
from a share in the control of working conditions to the taking 
over of the whole function of the employer. Speaking generally 
the advocates of " Democratic Control " ignore nationalization and 
aim at placing the control of Industry to a greater or less degree 
in the hands of the workers, thereby admitting what is undoubtedly 
the fact, that neither Nationalization nor Municipalization will 
substantially affect their position. The Manual Laborer when 
working for the State, the Municipality, or the Co-operative So- 
ciety is still a wage-earner and subject to discipline, and the rela- 
tions between employers and employed are marked by the same 
characteristics as under ordinary capitalistic employment. 



292 THE EMPLOYERS 

Mr. Gosling's Suggestions 

As an example of the more moderate demand, we have the 
suggestions put forward by Mr. Gosling in his Presidential Ad- 
dress to the Trade Union Congress, 1916: 

" Would it not be possible for the employers of this country . . . 
to agree to put their businesses on a new footing by admitting the 
workmen to some participation — not in profits, but in control? We 
workmen do not ask that we should be admitted to any share in what 
is essentially the employers' own business — that is, in those matters 
which do not concern us directly in the industry or employment in 
which we may be engaged. We do not seek to sit on the Board of 
Directors, or to interfere with the buying of materials or with the 
selling of the product. But in the daily management of the employ- 
ment in which we spend our working lives, in the atmosphere and 
under the conditions in which we have to work, in the hours of begin- 
ning and ending work, in the conditions of remuneration and even 
in the manners and practices of the foremen with whom we have to 
be in contact, in all these matters we feel that we, as workmen, have 
a right to a voice — even to an equal voice — with the management 
itself. Believe me, we shall never get any lasting industrial peace 
except on the lines of democracy." 

But there has long existed a school of economic thought whose 
demands go much further than this. The elusive idea of a form 
of organization, in which the workers would have complete con- 
trol of their lives and work, has given rise in the past to numerous 
experiments in " Self-governing Workshops." The same aspira- 
tion in a different form, applicable to modern large-scale indus- 
tries, emerges to-day in the proposals of the Syndicalists and 
the Guild Socialists. 

Syndicalism 

Syndicalists aim at the ownership of the means of production 
by organized Labor, without any intervention by the State. They 
are radically opposed to Socialism, holding that the State is the 
great enemy, and that collective ownership by the State would 
make the lot of the workers much worse than it is now under 
the private employer. 

Guild Socialism 

Guild Socialists, on the other hand, hold that "the State should 
own the means of production as trustees for the community; the 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 293 

Guild would manage them, also as trustees for the community." 
They hope to be able to include in their Guild both the manual 
workers and the brain workers in the industry. The view of 
Guild Socialists is that State Socialism takes account of men 
only as consumers, while Syndicalists take account of them only 
as producers. 

The essence, however, both of Guild Socialism and Syndicalism 
is to change the control of Industry " from above " into control 
" from below." Both schools realize that State Socialism will 
not do anything to improve the status of the manual workers. 

Past Experiments in Co-operative Production 

The history of past experiments in Co-operative Production 
(whether of workers actually owning the shop and plant or of 
men working co-operatively under contract with the owner of the 
plant) shows that any policy of this kind must be fatal to our 
national efficiency. 

Associations of workers, which have been formed for the pur- 
pose of carrying on Production, have found themselves unable to 
cope with industries conducted on a large-scale, and in small-scale 
industries they have failed to make headway against, or even keep 
pace with, the capitalist system. In no country has any but the 
smallest fraction of industry fallen into their hands. 

The following are the more obvious defects of nearly all at- 
tempts at Co-operative Production: 

i. The difficulty of securing discipline and efficient management 
when the manager is himself subject to those whom he has to 
direct. 

2. Self-governing Workshops have all been noticeable more or 
less for the slowness and reluctance with which they have re- 
acted to any industrial change. The workers are biased in favor 
of the continuance of that to which their hands have become 
adapted. They are slow to introduce new processes, slow to adopt 
new inventions, slow to instal machinery, slow in altering designs 
and patterns, and particularly slow to recognize the coming in of 
some alternative to their own commodity. 

3. Finally the gravest, and apparently the most insuperable, 
drawback to this form of industrial organization is that the 
manual working producers have no intimate or accurate knowl- 
edge of the market for which they have to produce. They are 



294 THE EMPLOYERS 

not in direct contact with the consumer of their commodity. They 
do not recognize his desires or caprices ; they are unable to foresee 
what he would prefer — hence they are constantly finding them- 
selves unable to dispose of their wares. 

Production for exchange cannot be successfully carried on unless 
the actual producer is under the direction of the commercial side. 

Mr. Sidney Webb, in a draft report prepared for the Com- 
mittee of the Fabian Research Department in 1916, summarizes 
the position as follows: 

"Attempts of Trade Unions to engage in industry have been uni- 
formly and invariably financially unsuccessful, and no encouragement 
should be given to any Trade Union to find any capital for industrial 
enterprises, whether under its own control or by self-governing work- 
shops or what is usually styled co-operative production." 

And again: 

" The self-governing workshop has, however, proved by universal 
experience to be inapplicable to any industrial undertakings on a large 
scale, and therefore affords us no plan of organization for the great 
mass of modern industry. Even in the industrial enterprise that can 
be carried on in a small way, the self-governing workshop, where 
the workers enjoyed absolute autonomy, has proved by long and varied 
experience to be, in all but very exceptional cases, neither stable, nor, 
so long as it endures, economically efficient, and that where any com- 
mercial success has been attained, it will be found that it has been 
gained when there is a close market, nearly always a partially-tied 
market, such as co-operative stores." 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

It is, however, impossible not to recognize that the theories of 
the Syndicalists and Guild Socialists have arisen from a genuine 
grievance, which demands and should receive some remedy. That 
remedy, however, must not attempt to reverse the existing indus- 
trial order, or it will, as recent events in Russia show, have 
disastrous effects upon our economic system, from which the 
workers themselves will be the chief sufferers. 

Social grievances such as poor housing, insufficient educational 
facilities, etc., are largely responsible for the idea of the class 
war, which is at the bottom of much industrial unrest. These 
are matters of primary importance, but the responsibility for the 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 295 

evils which undoubtedly exist rests upon the community as a 
whole, not solely upon employers, and the remedy for them must 
be in the main political. Much, however, could be done by im- 
provements in industrial practice (particularly on the part of the 
Trade Unions), to give increasing opportunities for the advance- 
ment of merit and so to a great extent remove the artificial 
boundary between the classes. Quite apart from restrictions on 
output the atmosphere of Trade Unionism has tended to discourage 
emulation amongst the workers, and to prevent the able and indus- 
trious worker from obtaining the position due to his abilities. 

Putting these considerations aside, the difficulties can, we sub- 
mit, be reduced to a fairly narrow compass, and ought not to be 
incapable of adjustment, although it is impossible to put forward 
remedies which will be universally applicable, owing to the very 
great complexity and diversity of modern industry, in regard to 
such matters as the size and methods of organization of the 
different firms and trades; the difficulties of the relations and 
organization of Trade Unions; the ratio and relations of skilled 
and unskilled labor; the variations which obtain in the propor- 
tion of capital employed to Labor costs; the degree to which the 
works can be carried on by routine methods, etc. 

It must be remembered that industry is a living organism, which 
is undergoing a process of continuous development and growth. 
We believe that all attempts to impose pre-conceived schemes of 
organization can only result in hindering progress and may lead 
to disaster. 

This applies especially to those artificial schemes of reconstruc- 
tion which find advocates among the extreme sections of Labor 
in the different countries of the world at the present time. We 
are convinced that the industrial system of the future can only 
be built up on the foundation of present and past experience. 

With these considerations in mind we proceed to consider pos- 
sible developments under the two following heads : " Participa- 
tion in Management " and " Participation in Profits." 

(a) Participation in Management 

Conditions of Employment 

We are strongly of opinion that the workers in every industry 
should be given the fullest possible voice in the determination of 



296 THE EMPLOYERS 

the conditions under which they are employed, provided this does 
not encroach upon the operations of the Commercial Management 
or lessen the proper authority of the foreman. Subject to these 
qualifications we endorse most willingly the suggestions put for- 
ward by Mr. Gosling in his Presidential Address already quoted. 

Whitley Councils 

Generally speaking, we think that the objects which we have 
in view can best be obtained by carrying out, with all possible 
speed, the recommendations of the Whitley Report in regard to 
National and District Industrial Councils, where the conditions of 
the trade permit. These recommendations have repeatedly been 
approved by the Federation and we desire once more to state in 
emphatic terms our approval of them, and especially of the pro- 
posals for District Councils. 

The recommendations of the Whitley Committee, if properly 
carried out, will give the worker a new and honorable status. 
In the National Council of the Industry and in the Joint Indus- 
trial Council (the formation of which should result from the 
recent National Conference of Employers and Trade Unionists) 
his representatives will sit on an absolute equality with the 
employers, and will have an equal voice in determining the gen- 
eral conditions subject to which the Industry will be carried on. 

The carrying out of these conditions will be a moral obligation 
on the Commercial Management no less than on the Workers in 
the individual firms. 

But the success of these Councils must depend on the loyal 
acceptance of their decisions by both sides. We understand that 
some of the Councils are already applying for legislation to give 
legal validity to their decisions. It is obvious that the general 
adoption of this course would greatly increase the effectiveness 
of the scheme. 

Commercial Management 

We have carefully considered the question how far the workers 
can be given any share in the Commercial Management of the 
business employing them, but we are convinced that it is unde- 
sirable and impracticable to attempt this. The history of the 
various experiments on the line of the " Self-governing Work- 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 297 

shop " shows that any attempt of this kind would inevitably throw 
Industry into confusion and weaken the productive force of the 
nation. 

The workers are legitimately interested in the general condi- 
tions governing the industry in which they work, so far as the 
industry as a whole is concerned, and should be given the fullest 
possible voice in the settlement of general conditions, but the 
Commercial Management must be kept as a separate department 
which should be open to any person possessing the requisite 
qualifications, but which must not be under the control of the 
manual workers. For these reasons we agree with Mr. Gosling 
that no solution can be found by offering the workers represen- 
tation on the directorate. We have heard of certain large firms 
who have adopted or are thinking of adopting this plan, but we 
feel it impossible to make a general recommendation in favor 
of such a practice. 

Publicity in Regard to Trade Statistics 

We regard it, however, as of the utmost importance that the 
workers should be given a better insight into the industry which 
employs them. We consider that they should have a greater 
interest in their work and a clearer understanding of the financial 
condition of their industry as a whole and of the difficulties in- 
volved in the management and in the obtaining of markets. 

It is difficult to suggest any definite arrangement which will be 
generally applicable to all industries, but we believe that the 
declared objects of several of the National Industrial Councils 
which have been formed include provisions for the supply to the 
workers of properly certified aggregate statistics for the industry 
in regard to wages, manufacturing and selling prices, average 
percentages of profits on turnover, and materials, costs, etc. 

Works Committees 

We believe also that, in Industries where circumstances admit 
of their formation, Works Committees will do much to make the 
worker realize that he is acquiring a new status in Industry. The 
institution of these Committees should be encouraged in every 
possible way, subject to the qualification that they should in gen- 
eral be representative of the workers only, and should be regarded 



298 THE EMPLOYERS 

rather as a channel through which the workers can make such 
recommendations as they desire to the Works Management. 

Within these limits they should be given the highest possible 
status. 



(&) Participation in Profits 

Before proceeding to deal with this part of our subject in detail 
we desire to call attention to the analysis of the national income 
before the war, made by Professor Bowley, one of the outstanding 
statistical authorities in this country, in his book entitled " The 
Division of the Product of Industry," published 1919. This analysis 
shows that "before the war the wealth of the country however 
divided was insufficient for a general high standard; and there 
is nothing yet to show that it will be greater in the future." 

Professor Bowley concludes that: 

" The most important task, — more important immediately than the 
improvement of the division of the product — incumbent on employers 
and workmen alike, is to increase the national product and that with- 
out sacrificing leisure and the amenities of life." 

" The problem of securing wages which people rather optimistically 
believe to be immediately and permanently possible, is to a great 
extent independent of the question of national or individual owner- 
ship, unless it is seriously believed that production would increase 
greatly if the State were the sole employer." 

It would seem to follow from these conclusions that any pro- 
posals for increasing the remuneration of the workers should be 
framed in such a way as to give the greatest possible incentive to 
increase the national production. 

Proposals of this kind may be classified under three headings: 
"Profit Sharing," "Pooling of Profits," and "Payment by 
Results." 

Profit Sharing 

We are unable to make a general recommendation in support of 
any system of profit sharing for the following reasons: 

(a) So far as we can ascertain profit-sharing is not desired by 
the workers, who are chiefly interested in securing high and 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 299 

regular wages and not in obtaining what they regard as occasional 
windfalls. 

(b) Profits are not the correct basis for calculation of wages, 
because the remuneration of the workers ought not to be made 
dependent on the successes or failures of the commercial man- 
agement. 

(c) The general introduction of profit-sharing would lead to 
great inequalities between the position of workers in different 
works and industries, and this would give rise to a sense of dissatis- 
faction and injustice. 

(d) The schemes of profit-sharing at present in existence only- 
give a very small addition to the earnings of the workpeople, and 
this must always be the case except where the capital engaged in 
an industry bears a high proportion to the number of workers 
employed. 

The above criticisms do not, however, apply to the contributions 
by employers, either individually or through their trade associa- 
tions, to thrift, superannuation, accident, sickness, or unemploy- 
ment funds. Where a policy of this kind can be adopted it will 
do much to remove the feeling of insecurity and the fear of sick- 
ness and old age which are a large factor in industrial discontent. 

Pooling of Profits 

We have considered the suggestion that some system might be 
devised whereby after capital had received a certain return, and 
the necessary allowance for depreciation and repairs had been 
made, a part of the profits should be set aside for distribution 
among the workers. 

Schemes of this kind may be employed successfully in some 
industries, but they are open to the general criticism which has 
been made above in regard to profit-sharing, and it would be 
impossible to devise a scheme which would be universally ap- 
plicable. We are therefore unable to make any definite recom- 
mendation on the subject. 

Payment by Results 

We consider it desirable, however, that, where possible, the 
remuneration of the workers should be made to bear some pro- 
portion to the efficiency of their own efforts, so that good and 
regular work may be adequately rewarded without consideration 



300 THE EMPLOYERS 

of the rate of profit arising from the commercial management of 
the business. We regard this as a matter of very great impor- 
tance, and we desire to record the strongest possible warning in 
regard to the injury which will be inflicted on the productive 
forces of this country, if the agitation against the principle of 
payment by results, now being carried on amongst certain sec- 
tions of labor, proves successful. 

At the same time we realize that the workers have some 
excuse for their attitude in view of the fact that in some cases 
individual employers have unjustly cut piece rates, when the activi- 
ties of the workers have resulted in their remuneration being 
largely increased. 

If the system of payment by results is to become general, it 
is essential that employers should establish equitable systems for 
fixing piece rates, and that there should be some reasonable 
procedure for the sanctioning by an impartial authority of any 
adjustment which may prove necessary. 

THE STATE AND INDUSTRY 

In our recommendations regarding the relations between Capital 
and Labor, no mention has been made of the functions of the 
State. Generally speaking we believe that neither employers nor 
employed desire the intervention of the State to settle their diffi- 
culties, except as an impartial arbitrator. The principles of trade 
union representation and collective bargaining are now fully 
accepted by employers. We hope that both sides will show them- 
selves increasingly ready to yield to the influence of public 
opinion, and this tendency will, we believe, grow as the establish- 
ment of Joint Councils gives greater opportunity for the friendly 
discussion of difficulties and greater and wider appreciation of the 
economic conditions under which industry is carried on. Nor, 
as we have already pointed out, would the position of the worker 
be substantially altered under State or Municipal ownership. He 
would remain a wage earner, as he is under private enterprise. 
Any concession which could safely be given to the worker by a 
Governmental or Municipal employer can and should be given 
by the private employer. We have already indicated what we 
consider those concessions might be. 

The function of the State in relation to Industry should be 



FEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRIES 301 

confined to laying down minimum conditions for employment and 
safeguarding the public, e.g., from the dangers due to the develop- 
ment of monopolistic combinations, whether of Capital or Labor. 
For the power of monopoly is not confined to organizations of 
capital. The Trade Union which endeavors to exploit the com- 
munity by withholding its labor is acting as much in restraint of 
trade and should be subject to the same State control as the 
Combine which endeavors to exploit the consumer by means of 
a monopoly of its products. 



CHAPTER II 

EVIDENCE OF THE RIGHT HONORABLE BARON GAIN- 
FORD OF HEADLAM TO THE COAL INDUSTRY 
COMMISSION 

I am Vice-Chairman of Pease and Partners, Limited; a director 
of T. and R. W. Bower, Limited, owners of Allerton Main Col- 
lieries, Yorkshire; of the Broomhill Collieries, Limited, Northum- 
berland; and have been engaged in the direction of collieries and 
ironworks for a period of 37 years. I am a member of the 
Durham Coal Owners' Association, and for many years have been 
a member of the Executive Council of the Mining Association of 
Great Britain. I am chairman of the National Association of 
Coke and Bye-Product Plant Owners. I am a member of the 
Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial 
Research. 

I have occupied the position of patronage secretary to the 
Treasury, and as a Minister of the Crown I have been Chancellor 
of the Duchy of Lancaster, President of the Board of Education, 
and Postmaster-General. 

The evidence I shall give is given with the authority of the 
Mining Association of Great Britain, but as it is a voluntary 
association, it must be understood that anything I say cannot 
legally bind any particular member of the Association, nor, of 
course, any coal owners outside the Association. 

Whilst we are prepared to give to the men full opportunity of 
making representations through organized channels and having 
those representations considered, yet any system which involves 
joint control in the management between the owners and the work- 
men is not only impracticable but will inevitably lead to the most 
disastrous results in the interests of the country. I cannot con- 
ceive of anything more futile than to attempt to manage a col- 
liery by means of a committee or council upon which there was 
an equal representation of the existing management and of the 

302 



BARON GAINFORD TO COAL COMMISSION 303 

workmen's representatives. The working conditions of a mine 
are not capable of being brought within such a system of control. 
In the first place certain statutory regulations have to be carried 
out for which the management alone can be responsible. Apart 
from this, rapid decisions have constantly to be made in respect 
of questions of safety and otherwise. To attempt to work col- 
lieries by means of committees would mean that these committees 
would become debating societies in which division of opinion 
might be expected rapidly to develop, with all the consequent 
results of want of cohesion and want of initiative. In my view it 
appears to be not only impracticable, but inconceivable that such 
a system of control and administration could possibly be intro- 
duced in the interests of the country. 

Any system of joint control, whether between the State or with 
representatives of the miners, would be absolutely unworkable and 
subversive of discipline and detrimental to national interests, and 
I put it to one side at once, as there is no firm of employers 
who would carry on the industry for a moment if they were not 
going to continue to have the direction of the business and the 
executive control of their undertaking; moreover, no self- 
respecting engineer that I have met is prepared to take the respon- 
sibility of working under any such system. It would not only 
endanger the lives of working men, and destroy all efficiency, but 
the property would be wasted, and the industry could not be run 
as a commercial or practical proposition. 

I am authorized to say, on behalf of the Mining Association, 
that if owners are not to be left complete executive control, they 
will decline to accept the responsibility of carrying on the industry, 
and though they regard nationalization as disastrous to the coun- 
try, they feel they would, in such event, be driven to the only 
alternative — nationalization on fair terms. 



Relations with Workmen: 

(a) Wages. 

The wages of the workers in each district, instead of varying 
with the selling price of coal, should be regulated with reference 
to the profits resulting from the industry in that district. There 
should be determined: 



304 THE EMPLOYERS 

(i) A minimum or standard rate of wages to be paid to 
each class of workman in that district, and which for 
the protection of the consumer should be fixed by 
machinery to be set up in conformity with the pro- 
posals of the National Industrial Council. 

(2) The particular items of cost, other than standard wages, 

which are to be included in the cost of production, 
to be determined in each district by qualified account- 
ants appointed by and representing each party. 

(3) A standard rate per ton to provide a minimum return 

for and redemption of owners' capital to be determined 
for each district by qualified accountants, as above. 

Any balance remaining after these items have been provided 
for should be divided between Labor and Capital in proportions 
to be agreed, the workmen receiving their proportion in the shape 
of a percentage addition to the standard wage. 

These additions to the standard rates of wages in each district 
would vary in accordance with the variation of profits shown by 
each periodical ascertainment in such district. 

The ascertainments of the average profits of each district should 
be made quarterly by the accountants. 

As the owners might, in times of depression, be required to pay 
a standard rate of wages when they would not be receiving the 
standard return on capital, any deficiency in any quarter in the 
standard return on capital should be made up out of the return 
in any subsequent quarter or quarters, before making any division 
between the owners and the workmen. 

Questions arising with respect to any of the matters referred 
to in this paragraph, and the settlement of which is not otherwise 
provided for, shall be settled by the Joint District Committees or 
Conciliation Board referred to in the next paragraph. 

(b) Co-operation of Workmen and Owners. 

Machinery should be set up for the purpose of arranging all 
questions between the owners and the workmen, and making pro- 
vision for the owners and workmen conferring upon all matters 
of particular or general interest relating to safety, production, 
efficiency, and the well-being of the workers. 

This machinery should consist of the establishment, or continua- 



BARON GAINFORD TO COAL COMMISSION 305 

tion where already established, of Joint Pit Committees, or other 
Consultative Local Committees without executive power. Any 
questions not satisfactorily disposed of by any Pit or Local Com- 
mittee should be referred to a Joint District Committee or Con- 
ciliation Board to be composed partly of owners or their repre- 
sentatives and partly of representatives of the workmen. 

Districts should be those established under the Minimum Wage 
Act. 



CHAPTER III 

MY DREAM OF A FACTORY 

By B. Seebohm Rowntree 

[Mr. Rowntree gave this talk to a group of social workers. He 
is one of the heads of Rowntree and Co., the cocoa firm. He has 
installed the Works Council. This dream is a program which he 
is progressively enacting.] 

When I sat down to prepare my speech, I did so with the best 
intentions. I wanted to give a formal and dignified address, deal- 
ing with certain specific aspects of factory management. But 
the formal and dignified address did not emerge. I found my mind 
wandering over the whole field of factory administration, and I 
began to dream of the kind of factory I should like to have, if 
I could conduct things just in my own way. I am going to 
content myself with telling you my dream. 

First of all, I realized that business should be a form of national 
service. We should not go into it merely to make money, but 
keep the idea of service constantly before us. Our aim should 
be to produce articles of use to the community under satisfactory 
conditions, and place them on the market at a reasonable price. 
While no business could continue unless it were run on sound 
economic lines, we should always strive to subordinate the claims 
of industry to the claims of citizenship. And as I dreamed of my 
ideal factory, I resolved to bear that principle in mind. 

Then in my dream I began to plan a great building. It occurred 
to me that my factory need not be so ugly as many existing fac- 
tories. I would get an architect to plan its outlines and propor- 
tions so skilfully as at least to make it pleasing to the eye, and 
not a blot on the landscape. I would plant creepers to climb up 
its walls, and surround it with gardens and playings fields. I 
would do my best to prevent smoky chimneys. 

Again, as I should want to get hold of workers of the best 
type, who came from good homes and were neat and clean, I 
would take all possible pains in the planning of the inside arrange- 

306 



MY DREAM OF A FACTORY 307 

ments of my factory. I would have suitable amenities — cloak- 
rooms with hot water pipes just above the floor, so that clothes 
could be aired, and, in case of wet weather, dried, ready to put 
on again when the time came. There should be little racks over 
the hot pipes, on which boots and shoes could be dried. Slippers 
should be forthcoming for people who got their feet wet, and a 
number of umbrellas in case of emergency. Good lavatory ac- 
commodation, with hot water and towels, all conforming to a 
very high standard of cleanliness, would be essential. Even indoor 
equipment would need careful consideration. I decided, in my 
dream, to enlist the services of a good dressmaker, who would 
design overalls that any girl might be pleased to wear, and that 
would help her to take a pride in herself and her work. 

As for the workrooms, they should have a beauty of their own. 
They should not suggest workhouses or penal institutions. I 
would call in men of artistic ability to supply a color scheme which 
was pleasing and which harmonized with the building. All the 
walls should be covered with beautiful tints of color wash, and 
some good pictures should be hung on them. Then I remembered 
that even the poorest people often spend a few coppers on flowers, 
and that a trifling outlay would make a great deal of difference 
in the appearance of the rooms. So I determined to put plants 
and flowers here and there, and make the whole place look more 
homelike. 

Then I remembered an interview with Dr. Kent, the famous 
scientist. He told me how many factors affect the health of the 
workers. The noise and turmoil of factories, for instance, were 
often injurious to them. So I resolved that an engineer should 
go all round my workrooms, everywhere trying to deaden the 
throb of the machinery — and at the same time to banish every 
offensive smell. 

I next reflected that it is impossible to get more energy out 
of a man than is put into him, and that it can only be put into 
him through the alimentary canal. So I would have a first-rate 
canteen in my dream factory. I would do more than supply the 
bodies of the employees with a certain number of calories of fuel 
energy. I recalled the rush and scramble of popular cafes in 
London, and I knew that the meals I ate there did me very little 
good. So my canteen should be restful, and pleasant in appear- 
ance, that the hour spent there by the workers might be a time 



308 THE EMPLOYERS 

of real recreation. After all, the dinner-hour is the one substan- 
tial break between two solid shifts of work, and I should want my 
people to work as well in the afternoon as in the morning. I 
would pay for the building, heating, lighting, and equipment of 
the place, and I would ask the workers to pay for the service 
and for the cost of the food, and, through an appointed com- 
mittee, to unite with the head of the canteen in making the whole 
thing a success. 

From this I turned to another aspect of health. I would appoint 
a works' doctor to be in attendance every day, and I would do 
my best to find a really sympathetic man. Then, in view of the 
extreme importance of clear vision, I would have an oculist to 
test every worker's eyes without charge, and to fit him up with 
glasses, if necessary. There should be a good dentist, and a com- 
petent nurse, and there should be plenty of rest-rooms. In all 
these things, I would try to keep the balance between myself as 
a citizen and myself as a business man. From each standpoint, 
I wanted my people to be vigorous, alert, and healthy, both good 
workers and good citizens. 

Now, what principle should guide me in fixing the working 
hours of the factory? I remembered that I was living in a com- 
petitive age, and I could only hold my own among other manu- 
facturers, if I put my goods on the market at a certain price. My 
working hours must enable me to carry on business successfully. 
If my margin of profit were so low, my balance sheet so unsat- 
isfactory that I could not even get an advance from the bank, 
how should I realize my ideals? Clearly, it was essential to have 
a good output; but yet, I did not want to fall into the old rut, 
which had regulated hours for the last fifty years, and to start 
work at six o'clock just because other people did. 

" What," I asked myself, " is the minimum number of hours 
in which the workers could produce the necessary output ? " 

I saw that when it came to running an ideal factory, infinite 
pains should be given to finding out the right answer to that 
question. The employer would have to free his mind entirely 
from prejudice, and old-fashioned ideas. He would have to ascer- 
tain the output which would enable him to compete successfully 
in the markets of the world. He would have to make use of 
every scientific discovery to help him to secure that output, and 
he would have to decide the number of hours which workers 



MY DREAM OF A FACTORY 309 

must contribute after due reference to all the other factors. 
Clearly, I should need to keep my own brain in good working 
order, in running my ideal factory. 

Now, as regards Trade Unions, I would, from the very outset, 
regard them as my friends. I would not set to work in a spirit 
of animosity. The organization of the workers is not only abso- 
lutely essential to their prosperity, but it is in the interests of 
industry as a whole, including the employer. I should like to say 
quite frankly to Trade Union leaders: 

" Now, I want to do the square thing. I believe that I can 
make my business successful, not only to my own advantage, but 
to that of the workers, if we co-operate. But I need your help, 
and I need your perfectly frank criticisms. Only, in all our nego- 
tiations, let us keep one aim in view — namely, that all our actions 
shall be based on justice. Let us avoid mutual suspicions, and 
when we differ from one another, let right, not might, have the 
casting vote." 

I would encourage all my workers to join Trade Unions, 
although, not being a Prussian, I would not force them to join. 
But I would give them every facility, with a room in which to 
meet, and opportunities for collecting their subscriptions. One 
definite half-hour a week could be set apart for that purpose. 
Mind, I would not have those subscriptions, or any other sub- 
scriptions, collected in a casual happy-go-lucky manner, at all times 
and seasons! That would mean the devotion of so much thought 
and energy to matters not directly connected with the work in 
hand. And, in an ideal factory, I should want to get ideal value 
out of every working hour. 

As to the administration of my business, I should first of all 
gather round me men of the right type with ideals and principles 
similar to my own. For the highest posts, I would secure the very 
best men I could lay my hands on, and pay them whatever was 
necessary. Whether I paid my best men one, or two, or three 
thousand a year would matter infinitely less than whether they 
were the right men, men who not only had first-class business 
ability, but sincere belief in human brotherhood. 

As for managers, foremen, and forewomen, I would only employ 
gentlefolk. I mean gentle-men and gentle-women. I would not 
care what rank of life they came from, if they answered to that 
definition in the best and truest sense. I should tell them that 



310 THE EMPLOYERS 

my ideals were high, and could only be realized with their help; 
that if they failed me, I failed. Each of them should be a leader ; 
and he who leads must be in the van, and know the right way. 
Human beings may be driven, never led, never inspired, by those 
who lag behind. This would mean a very high standard, both 
for them and for myself. We should all have to be pretty good 
to begin with, and to go on getting better and better, and never to 
dream that we had completed our education. 

I would encourage all the overlookers to form associations in 
which they might discuss their duties and their functions in the 
factory, as well as matters affecting their own interests. Their 
primary object should be to adapt themselves in every possible 
way to the heavy responsibilities and difficult tasks which devolved 
upon them. 

With regard to the workers, I should like them immediately to 
undertake certain responsibilities. I would, temporarily at all 
events, keep the financial and commercial side of the business in 
my own hands, but so far as the industrial side was concerned, I 
would ask the workers to co-operate to the fullest possible extent. 
I would arrange for a system of Councils, including small sec- 
tional Councils, to deal solely with matters affecting small groups 
of workers, and departmental Councils, representing larger groups, 
and a great Central Council, to deal with matters which concerned 
the whole works. To that Council I would explain something of 
my dreams and purposes. I would say : " Now, I want you to 
co-operate with me in the conduct of this business. I want you, 
more and more, to be responsible for its industrial administration. 
But I am a practical man, and I realize that we must have good 
sound government and no anarchy. Therefore, though our ulti- 
mate object may be to make the works self-governing in all indus- 
trial matters, we cannot do this at once. We must move cau- 
tiously, and you must begin with a certain share of administra- 
tion, and extend your boundaries as fast as is consistent with 
safety." 

Experience has shown that a committee, or council, especially 
a large one, is not an effective instrument when it comes to con- 
structive work. Its especial duty is to criticize. Therefore, while 
f would submit various schemes to the whole Council, I should 
recommend them to appoint small panels, or sub-committees, to 
consider special matters. 



MY DREAM OF A FACTORY 311 

Such a Council might be taken into conference on such subjects 
as the number of hours to be worked, and their arrangement. Of 
course, I should insist on a certain standard of time-keeping. The 
workers in my ideal factory would not saunter in and out just 
as the spirit moved them. But I should not be wedded to any 
particular scheme of time office rules, even if I had formulated 
them myself. The Council would be quite free to formulate a 
better one. 

I should make no great addition to the factory without consult- 
ing both the Central Works Council and the Council representing 
the workers who would have to work in the addition. 

Again, if a great rush of work were imminent, I would put the 
facts before the Council, explaining the importance of supplying 
the goods and satisfying the customers. I would ask them how 
to put it through with the least strain on the workers. If, on 
the other hand, things were slack, I should ask the Council to 
advise me whether to reduce the staff, or to work short time, or 
how to meet the emergency. 

Such a Council would discuss all questions of education and 
recreation, and it should have a voice in the appointment of over- 
lookers. For example, I might nominate overlookers, and a sub- 
committee selected by the Council might criticize my nomination, 
or suggest other names. The final decision, here, would rest with 
the management. 

With regard to the highest officials, I would not initially con- 
sult the Council. Their knowledge as yet would not enable them 
to select, for example, a head chemist, or a head engineer. But 
I should want their help in a very important matter — namely, 
making it possible for every worker to rise from the lowest to the 
highest rung of the ladder. Again, while standard wage rates 
would still be fixed by the Trade Unions in conjunction with the 
management, the workers would be free to discuss piece rates and 
to point out any grievance or injustice through their chosen rep- 
resentatives. 

While the Council would be encouraged to make suggestions, 
with regard to improved conditions in the factory, its functions 
should not be one-sided. It should not become merely the mouth- 
piece of dissatisfied workers. Definite responsibility would rest 
upon it as a body, and if things went wrong in the works, I should 
seek its help at once. Take, for instance, the question of theft. 



312 THE EMPLOYERS 

i 
If that became serious, I might appeal to the Council and say: 

" Now, I have done my best to remedy this evil. I have failed, 

and you, the representatives of the workers, must have a try. 

Exercise what fresh disciplinary measures you will. But create 

such an atmosphere in the factory that people will scorn to 

steal." 

I would tell them that I remembered going round an Antwerp 
Diamond Cutting Factory with a Trade Union Secretary. No 
employers were in evidence. One workman pulled out of a drawer 
a handful of diamonds of all sizes, and I said to the Secretary, 
who was also a workman : " Do you never have anything stolen ? 
There are mere boys here ; do they never steal ? " 

He answered that if a boy were to pilfer the least thing, no 
Trade Union, in future, would admit him into membership. 

I would ask the Council to get a similar spirit into our factory, 
for it would be theirs as well as mine. And I should say to them : 

" I want every worker in this place to play the game. It is a 
great game, a man's game. I am trying to play it myself. If at 
any time any of you think that I am playing foul, come and tell 
me so to my face. But see that no single person plays foul. If 
he does, the umpire's whistle must blow, and he must be warned. 
If, after that, he still continues to play foul, he must be ordered 
off the field. 

" Be true umpires ! See that the game is played fairly and 
cleanly on both sides, yours as well as mine." 

Perhaps I would also tell them the following story, to illustrate 
the fact that in the long run human beings win through by trusting 
one another. At the time of a great industrial crisis in America, 
when firms were " going broke " every day, an old-established 
business was passing through a terrible crisis. The time came 
when the employer did not know where to get money to pay his 
wages. No bank would advance him a halfpenny, and the district 
was seething with labor unrest. Well, one day his workers sent 
a deputation, demanding to see him. He thought this meant the 
end of all ! He had done his best, and he had failed. But he 
received the delegation — they were surly-looking men. And one 
of them said: 

" Well, boss, we hear that you are in very deep waters, and 
can get no money from the bank. Some of us have been putting 
our heads together, and we want to do what we can to help you. 



MY DREAM OF A FACTORY 313 

We have a little money laid by; and we put it at your disposal, 
to the last penny, if you want it." 

I would exclude men from my factory who simply did not mean 
to " play the game." I would not exclude a man who was trying 
hard, just because he had made a bad start, any more than I would 
exclude aliens from entering this country just because they were 
aliens. But, just as I would not suffer aliens to lower the standard 
of our national life, but compel them to live up to it, or quit, 
so every worker, if he expected to remain in the factory, would 
have to conform to its standards. 

One indispensable thing in my ideal factory would be a really 
good Works Employment Department. A worker should be made 
to feel, from the very beginning of his career, that people 
acknowledged his claims as an individual human being. When 
inquiring about work, a newcomer should be shown into a com- 
fortable, well- furnished waiting-room, and the Employment Officer 
should be sympathetic and kindly. Boys and girls, men and 
women, should all be received politely, and after engagement, 
presented to the head of the department which they entered, not 
in a haphazard fashion, perhaps by a mere lad, but with all due 
courtesy, by a gentle-man or gentle-woman. 

With regard to wages, I should of course recognize the fact 
that wages are of two kinds. First, there is what has been called 
the basic wage, and then there is the secondary wage. The 
former represents the minimum sum which is necessary to enable 
the worker to live as a member of a civilized community in the 
twentieth century. The basic wage for a man should allow him 
to live in a decent house, to marry, and to bring up a family of 
normal size in full physical efficiency, with a margin for con- 
tingencies and recreation. No man should work for less, in my 
ideal factory, nor should any woman work without a wage which 
would permit her to live in accordance with a similar standard 
of comfort. 

When I had seen to it that such wages were paid to the least 
skilled workers, I would remunerate skill at its market value, de- 
ciding this in conjunction with the Trade Unions involved. I 
should not be so anxious about skilled men, who are much better 
able to look after themselves. 

But suppose I wanted to pay the basic wage, and could not 
do so, owing to the competition of other manufacturers who tried 



314 THE EMPLOYERS 

to keep wages down, then I should go to the Minister of Labor 
and ask him to establish a Trade Board for the whole industry. 
On that Trade Board, I would try to impress the importance of 
at least securing the basic wage and thus, instead of allowing 
my competitors to "down" me, I should force them to rise to 
my level. 

I should have no objection to piece work. Very possibly, two- 
thirds of the wage might be paid in the shape of day wage, which 
a man would receive irrespective of the amount of work he did, 
and the rest on piece, that is, so much per unit of work per- 
formed. Ninety per cent of the wages, I imagine, could be dealt 
with in that way. But if I thought the method unfair to such 
day workers as cleaners, etc., who could not be put on piece 
wage, yet were expected to work hard, I would in their case estab- 
lish a room bonus, so that collectively they would be on part piece, 
and have a direct interest in the amount of work they accom- 
plished. 

I would pay for all public holidays, and I would give every 
worker a week's holiday, with pay. The officers would have 
longer holidays, varying with the measure of their responsibility, 
and the consequent strain upon them. 

At this juncture in my dream it occurred to me that I was con- 
templating a very costly enterprise. I told myself that ideals 
were very expensive things, and I asked where the money would 
come from. 

I knew that employers had access to no bottomless supply of 
wealth, out of which to meet any deficit occasioned by too rash 
an attempt to realize Utopia. I should have to make my money 
in my business, day by day. To meet an increased wage bill, and 
the cost of other improvements, I should have to depend on one 
of four sources: (i) the consumer, (2) my own profits, (3) my 
own organizing ability and initiative, and (4) the energy and 
efficiency of my workers. 

Now, speaking generally, I could only tax the consumer in the 
measure that my competitors were taxing him. A monopolist 
could do more, but obviously if wage increases can only be ob- 
tained at the cost of corresponding increases in prices, the worker 
gets little or no advantage. As for profits, I know how often 
a business only makes just enough profits to keep it going. 

While, therefore, I should not be greedy in the matter of profits, 



MY DREAM OF A FACTORY 315 

I recognize that this fact alone would not enable me to carry out 
my ideals. I decided that as regards the wherewithal for running 
my ideal factory, to depend principally on myself and my 
workers. 

I would have the very best experts in my factory that I could 
get — the best chemists, the best engineers, and the best psycholo- 
gists. I would have a first-rate costing system. I would have 
" scientific management," though I might not use that term. The 
thing itself would soon become as natural and inevitable as typing 
or shorthand. Without introducing any nigger-driving methods, 
I would get the very best out of the American system. The work 
in my factory should be done in the shortest possible time, yet 
with the minimum of effort. Men who had studied the question 
exhaustively should come and help me. Mind ! no one should be 
overworked. No one should be encouraged or allowed to be " too 
old at 40." But work would be so adjusted that every one would 
do as much as he honestly could, though no more. If I tried to 
run my works on the basis of some Government Offices, where 
it really does not matter whether a job is done this week or next 
— or this year or next, — I should soon have no works to run. 

But every one who entered the factory should learn something 
of its functions, and of his own relation to the whole. Too often 
employers say, practically, to the newcomer : " Come along, that 
is your room; that is your job; you may have to do it for twenty 
years! The factory around you is really none of your business. 
Your material comes from somewhere: that is our affair, not 
yours. Your work is going somewhere — where it goes has noth- 
ing to do with you." 

That is, to my mind, a stupid attitude. It is neither human 
nor businesslike. In my factory, I would try to interest every 
worker not only in his own task, but in the great concern in 
which he was a unit. I should show him how he was linked to 
all the other workers, and to the whole world. Why should not 
every boy and girl — in a Cocoa Works, for example, know some- 
thing about physiology, the value of cocoa as a food- stuff, the 
far land it comes from, and its destination? 

Again, by charts and diagrams, I would let a worker see, day 
by day, what progress he was making, even if it were only in the 
art of cleaning windows. He could compare his skill and speed 
one day with his skill and speed the day before, and with the 



316 THE EMPLOYERS 

performance of other workers. He could make work into a game 
instead of drudgery. 

Once more, in my dream factory, I would try to do away with 
the fear of unemployment, and give every worker a sense of 
economic security. A thoroughly adequate pension scheme, includ- 
ing some provision for the widows and young children of workers, 
would be an essential part of the program. The whole task would 
bristle with difficulties, but I would find really able men to help 
me. I would say to them : " Now, you are thinkers, pioneers, 
makers of roads. You must study the experiments which have 
been undertaken all over the world. You must find out what has 
been done in America, France, Germany. You must ' put me 
wise, ,: keep me up-to-date. You must be, as it were, industrial 
commissioners, working out the problems that face us." 

When I had banished fear from the minds of all my workers, 
I would try to fill them with ambition. I would make bold experi- 
ments, even if they sometimes failed. I would avoid the rut — 
especially the circular rut, — and move forward, and persuade my 
workers to move with me. I think that in time we should move 
the world. 

(At this stage, the maid came and told me that it was a quarter 
past five, and that at half past five I had to give my lecture.) 



SECTION TWO 
MASTERS AND MEN 

CHAPTER I 

INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE. — REPORT OF PROVI- 
SIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE PRESENTED TO MEET- 
ING OF INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE, CENTRAL 
HALL, WESTMINSTER, APRIL 4 th, 1919 

At the Industrial Conference called by the Government and 
held at the Central Hall, Westminster, on 27th February last, it 
was resolved: 

" That this Conference, being of the opinion that any pre- 
ventable dislocation of industry is always to be deplored, and, 
in the present critical period of reconstruction, might be 
disastrous to the interests of the Nation, and thinking that 
every effort should be made to remove legitimate grievances, 
and promote harmony and goodwill, resolves to appoint a 
Joint Committee, consisting of equal numbers of employers 
and workers, men and women, together with a Chairman 
appointed by the Government, to consider and report to a 
further meeting of this Conference on the causes of the 
present unrest and the steps necessary to safeguard and pro- 
mote the best interests of employers, workpeople, and the 
State, and especially to consider: 

" 1. Questions relating to Hours, Wages, and General 
Conditions of Employment; 
"2. Unemployment and its prevention; 
" 3. The best methods of promoting co-operation between 
Capital and Labor. 

"The Joint Committee is empowered to appoint such Sub- 
Committees as may be considered necessary consisting of 
equal numbers of employers and workers, the Government to 
be invited to nominate a representative for each. 

" In view of the urgency of the question, the Joint Com- 
mittee is empowered to arrange with the Government for 

317 



318 MASTERS AND MEN 

the reassembling of the National Conference not later than 
April 5th for the purpose of considering the Report of the 
Joint Committee/' 
A Committee was elected accordingly, and the Government 
nominated Sir Thomas Munro, K.B.E., to be Chairman. 

The first meeting of the Joint Committee, which was addressed 
by the Prime Minister, was held on March 4th, and the following 
resolution was carried: 

" That this Committee, in order that its work may be ac- 
complished as expeditiously and thoroughly as possible, 
divide itself into three Sub-Committees, with the following 
terms of reference: 

(1) To make recommendations concerning: 

(a) The methods of negotiation between employers and 

Trade Unions, including the establishment of a per- 
manent Industrial Council to advise the Government 
on industrial and economic questions with a view to 
maintaining industrial peace. 

(b) The method of dealing with war advances, and 

(c) The methods of regulating wages for all classes of 

workers, male and female, by legal enactment or 
otherwise. 

(2) To make recommendations as to the desirability of legisla- 

tion for a maximum number of working hours and a 
minimum rate of wages per week. 
. (3) To consider the question of unemployment, and to make 
recommendations for the steps to be taken for its pre- 
vention, and for the maintenance of the unemployed in 
those cases in which it is not prevented, both during the 
present emergency period, and on a permanent basis. 
" Note. — Unrest and output to be discussed by the whole 
Committee at its next meeting on statements previously sub- 
mitted by the parties." 

The Government were requested to nominate Chairman of the 
Sub-Committees, and for this purpose the services of Sir David 
Shackleton, K.C.B., and Professor L. T. Hobhouse, D.Litt, were 
obtained, in addition to those of Sir Thomas Munro. 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 319 

The work of the Committee has proceeded almost continuously 
till the present date. They have not considered it necessary or 
practicable to take oral evidence, but numerous views and sugges- 
tions in writing have been placed before them and considered. 

Full information and statistics relating to the subjects under 
consideration have, at the request of the Committee, been supplied 
by the Ministry of Labor, the Home Office, and from other sources. 

As appears from the terms of reference the Committee were 
intrusted with the duty of suggesting means whereby dislocation 
of industry, particularly at the present critical period, should be 
prevented in the interests of the Nation. It was the expressed 
opinion of the Conference that to secure this end it was necessary 
that legitimate grievances should be removed, and that harmony 
and goodwill should be promoted. The Committee were asked to 
consider and report upon the causes of the present unrest, and 
the steps necessary to safeguard and promote the best interests 
of Employers, Workpeople, and State. In approaching the sub- 
ject they were specially directed to consider certain specific 
subjects. 

In regard to these specific subjects there was general agreement 
that there were difficulties affecting hours and conditions of 
employment, wages, and the methods of their determination; that 
the whole question of preventing unemployment and providing for 
its consequence on the individual worker when it did occur called 
for further provision ; and that machinery for promoting co-opera- 
tion between employers and employees should, where necessary, be 
revised and improved, and should be extended to include other 
industries where methods of negotiation and agreement do not 
at present exist. 

At the same time it has been realized that the field of inquiry 
opened up by the terms of reference is a vast one, and that to 
explore and report upon it as a whole would require a far closer 
and more prolonged examination of its numerous aspects, both 
political and economic, than could be even contemplated by the 
present Committee in the short period of time allotted to them. 

On the causes of industrial unrest and their suggested remedies, 
the Trade Union representatives submitted a comprehensive memo- 
randum, setting out causes and suggesting remedies. Several ques- 
tions referred to in this memorandum have been the subject of 



320 MASTERS AND MEN 

consideration by the Committee, and recommendations are made in 
this report which it is believed will provide effective means to 
remedy or alleviate certain of the grievances which are advanced. 
It has been impossible, however, to attempt any exhaustive 
investigation into every aspect of unrest, to examine fully the 
relation between under-consumption and unemployment, between 
wage standards and purchasing power, the relationship of produc- 
tion to the whole economic and industrial situation, and many 
other fundamental but complicated matters of discussion. It was 
the intention of the employers to submit a considered statement 
on the subject of output or production. They have found it impos- 
sible to complete a statement in the time at their disposal, but are 
prepared to do so at a later date. For the purpose both of 
carrying on future investigation into matters now affecting the 
industrial situation and of keeping such matters under continuous 
review in the future and advising the Government on them, it is 
the unanimous view of the Committee that there should be estab- 
lished some form of permanent National Industrial Council. The 
recommendations of the Committee in regard to the functions and 
constitution of the National Industrial Council which they propose, 
appear below. It is sufficient at the present stage to record the 
conclusion of the Committee that such a Council should be insti- 
tuted, and to point out that in their view matters on which this 
Committee themselves have been unable to make recommendations 
would be appropriate subjects for consideration by that Council. 

The questions to which special attention has been given by 
this Committee in the time available are as follows: 

(a) Maximum hours. 

(b) Minimum wages. 

(c) Methods of dealing with war advances. 

(d) Recognition of, and negotiations between, organizations 

of employers and workpeople. 

(e) Unemployment. 

(/) The institution of a National Industrial Council. 

Hours 

In regard to Hours the Committee are unanimous in recom- 
mending the principle of a legal maximum of normal hours per 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 321 

week for all employed persons. The number of hours they recom- 
mend is 48, but they recognize that this number may be reduced 
by agreement, and that there are also exceptional cases in which 
it may be necessary that it should be increased. 

They accordingly suggest that legal sanction should be given to 
trade agreements for the reduction of hours, and that under cer- 
tain conditions similar sanction might be given to such agreements 
for the augmentation of hours. They propose that if there be a 
desire for variation expressed by one party only, a conference 
should be summoned, whose decision should, under ordinary cir- 
cumstances, receive legal sanction. 

They have not deemed it possible within the time at their dis- 
posal, nor did they feel competent, to draw up a list of proposed 
exemptions, but they consider that an interval should elapse after 
the passing of the Act in which applications for exemptions should 
be made and that inquiry should then take place into each case, 
and the application of the Act should, if necessary, be postponed 
in any particular case until the completion of such inquiry. 

Thus some occupations may be altogether exempted from the 
Act, while in others the maximum may be varied in either direc- 
tion by agreement between the parties. 

The Committee's detailed recommendations under this head are 
as follows: 

Maximum to be specified in Act 

1. That the maximum normal working hours per week should 
be 48, and that this maximum should be established by Act of 
Parliament. 

Act to be of General Application 

2. That the Act shall apply generally to all employed persons, 
but that provision shall be made for exemption from or variation 
of the terms of the Act to be granted in proper cases, as follows: 

Agreement to Substitute Lower Maximum 

3. That where an agreement has been arrived at between rep-* 
resentative organizations of employers and employed in any trade 
and by such agreement provision is made that the number of 
working hours per week for that trade shall be lower than the 
maximum established under the Act, the Secretary of State or 



322 MASTERS AND MEN 

other appropriate Minister shall, if he has no reason to deem it 
contrary to the public interest, make an Order prescribing the 
lower number of hours as the maximum for that trade. 

Agreement to Substitute Higher Maximum 

4. That where an agreement has been arrived at between rep- 
resentative organizations of employers and employed in any trade 
and by such agreement provision is made that the number of 
working hours per week for that trade shall be higher than the 
maximum established under the Act, the Secretary of State or 
other appropriate Minister shall, if he has no reason to deem it 
contrary to the public interest, make an Order prescribing for the 
trade, the number of hours specified in the place of the maximum 
established under the Act. 

Application by one Party only for Variation of Maximum 

5. That where in any trade representative organizations of 
either employers or employed are desirous that the hours estab- 
lished under the Act or an Order should be varied (either by 
way of decrease or increase), and no joint representation has been 
made in accordance with the two preceding paragraphs, the Secre- 
tary of State or other appropriate Minister shall, on a request in 
writing of the representative organizations of either the employers 
or the employed concerned, summon a Conference of representa- 
tives of such organizations to consider the advisability of the pro- 
visions of the Act being varied in order to meet the requirements 
of the particular trade in respect of which the request is made, 
and in the event of a substantial agreement being reached as the 
result of such conference an Order may be made by the Minister 
in accordance with the provisions of the two preceding paragraphs. 

Provision for Variation or Exemption by Order 

6. That where in special trades an application is made for 
variation of the number of hours established by the Act and no 
agreement is arrived at in the trade, or where an application is 
made for total or partial exemption from the Act, provision 
should be made under the Act whereby, after consultation with 
the National Industrial Council, a competent authority shall 
inquire into the application and, where special necessity is proved, 
the Secretary of State or other appropriate Minister may by order 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 323 

grant the application: provided that (a) where such variation or 
exemption is granted the competent authority may attach condi- 
tions thereto, and (b) variation under this clause shall be granted 
only where no agreement has been arrived at under preceding 
paragraphs. 

Provision respecting Orders Varying the Number of Hours 

7. That Orders substituting in any trade a number of hours 
beyond that established under the Act shall not be made unless 
and until the appropriate authority is satisfied either that the rate 
of wages payable in the trade is fixed on such a basis as to take 
into account, for payment at an enhanced rate, any extra hours 
worked, or that provision is made for the payment, as overtime, 
of all hours worked over 48 in accordance with the provisions of 
paragraph 10 below. 

Provision for Publication of Orders 

8. Before any Order becomes operative it shall be published 
for a period of (say) one month to allow of objections being 
made by either side. In default of such objections the Order 
shall become operative on the date named. If substantial objec- 
tion is made, the Secretary of State or other appropriate Minister 
shall not make the Order until he has caused public inquiry to be 
held. 

Reference to Trade Boards 

9. In any trade for which a Trade Board has been established, 
any proposal to vary the maximum hours shall be brought before 
the Trade Board for report. 

Overtime 

10. Overtime, especially systematic overtime, should be dis- 
couraged, but it is recognized that in certain circumstances over- 
time is unavoidable. The extent of overtime to be allowed in any 
trade, and the conditions under which it may be worked, shall 
be determined under the procedure laid down in the preceding 
clauses for variation or exemption from the terms of the Act, 
either (a) by the representatives of the Trade or (b) in the less 
organized trades by the Trade Board, or, in default of either, by 
the Secretary of State or other appropriate Minister, in accord- 



324 MASTERS AND MEN 

ance with general principles laid down by the Minister on the 
advice of the National Industrial Council. 

Overtime, when worked, shall be computed and paid for in 
accordance with the custom of each particular trade in the sev- 
eral districts concerned, provided that overtime shall in no case 
be paid for at less than time and a quarter. Subject to agree- 
ments and Orders made under the provisions of Clauses 4, 5, 
and 6, no person shall be required to work more than 48 hours 
without overtime payment. 

Night Shift, Sunday, and Holiday Work 

11. The Committee are of opinion that in any arrangement as 
to hours and overtime pay the question of night shift and Sunday 
and holiday work should receive special consideration by the 
National Industrial Council. 

Date of Act Coming into Operation 

12. That the Act should not come into operation until the 
expiry of six months from its date, and that in respect to a par- 
ticular trade, where an inquiry under Clause 6 is pending or in 
progress, the appropriate Minister shall have power by Order to 
suspend the operation of the Act for a further period not exceed- 
ing three months. 

Wages 

The Committee have agreed that minimum time-rates of wages 
should be established by legal enactment, and that they ought to 
be of universal applicability. The Committee took full cognizance 
both of the difficulties of determining on particular rates and of 
dealing with exceptional cases. Having these considerations in 
mind, they make the following recommendations: 

1. Minimum time-rates of wages should be established by 
legal enactment and should be universally applicable. 

2. A Commission should be appointed immediately upon 
the passing of the Act to report within three months as to 
what these rates should be, and by what methods and what 
successive steps they should be brought into operation. The 
Commission should advise on the means of carrying out the 
necessary administrative work. 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 325 

3. In the meantime Trade Boards should be established 
forthwith in the various less organized trades where they 
do not already exist. 

4. The Commission should review the Trade Boards Acts, 
especially with the object of facilitating and expediting as 
far as possible the procedure in fixing and applying minimum 
rates. 

5. The Minister of Labor, on the recommendation of the 
proposed National Industrial Council, shall appoint the Com- 
mission, which shall consist of an equal number of represen- 
tatives of Employers' Associations and Trade Unions, with 
a Chairman nominated by the Government. 

6. The Commission shall give adequate public notice of 
its proposed findings and shall hear representatives of any 
trade that may desire to be heard. 

7. Where an agreement is arrived at between representa- 
tive organizations of Employers and Trade Unions in any 
trade laying down a minimum rate of wages, the Minister of 
Labor shall have power, after investigation, to apply such 
minimum rate, with such modification as he may think fit, to 
all employers engaged in the trade falling within the scope 
of the agreement. 

Note. — The expression "trade" used in the above proposals 
relating to maximum hours and minimum wages includes industry, 
branch of trade or industry, occupation, or special class of work- 
ers, whether for the whole country or a special area. 

In regard to the methods of dealing with war advances the 
Committee recommend: 

(1) That the Wages (Temporary Regulation) Act, 1918, should 

be continued in force for a further period of six months 
from 2 1 st May, 1919. 

(2) That the interim Court of Arbitration constituted under 

that Act should hold an inquiry — sitting as a special court 
for the purpose — as to the war advances which have 
been granted, and the manner in which they have been 
granted, whether by way of increase, of time rates 
or piecework prices or by way of war bonus, or other- 



326 MASTERS AND MEN 

wise, and as to the effect of the \2y 2 per cent bonus to 
time-workers, and the 7^ per cent to pieceworkers, and 
should determine finally how these advances should be 
dealt with, and in particular whether they should be 
added to the time rates or piecework prices, or should 
be treated separately as advances given on account of the 
conditions due to the war. 

Where machinery for negotiation exists in any trade or 
industry no action shall be taken by the Interim Court 
of Arbitration affecting such a trade or industry unless 
and until such existing machinery, having been put into 
operation with a view to arriving at a settlement by 
agreement between the trade unions and employers' or- 
ganizations concerned, fails to arrive at an agreement by 
the 1st September, 1919. 

Where no machinery for negotiation exists in any trade 
or industry, trade conferences representing the trade 
unions and the employers concerned shall be called by 
the Ministry of Labor within two months from 4th April, 
19 1 9, and no action shall be taken by the Interim Court 
of Arbitration unless such conferences shall within that 
time have failed to arrive at an agreement, in which case 
the Court shall consider and determine the difference 
under the powers conferred by the Wages (Temporary 
Regulation) Act. 
(3) That the parties should consider the desirability of insti- 
tuting procedure for a national periodical review of the 
wages of the trade of the country as a whole. 

Methods of Negotiation between Employers and Trade Unions 

On the subject of methods of negotiation between employers 
and workpeople, the Committee recognized the importance of 
establishing an understanding on the question of " recognition." 
Their opinion is as follows: 

(a) The basis of negotiation between employers and work- 
people should, as is presently the case in the chief indus- 
tries of the country, be the full and frank acceptance of 
the employers' organizations on the one hand and trade 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 327 

unions on the other, as the recognized organizations to 
speak and act on behalf of their members. 

(b) The members should accept the jurisdiction of their respec- 

tive organizations. 

(c) The employers' organizations and the trade unions should 

enter into negotiations for the purpose of the establish- 
ment of machinery or revision, if necessary, of existing 
machinery, for the avoidance of disputes, and the ma- 
chinery should provide, where in any question at issue 
there are more than one employers' organization or trade 
union representing the same class of employers or work- 
people, a representative method of negotiation, so that 
settlements arrived at will cover all parties concerned. 
The machinery should also contain provisions for the 
protection of the employers' interests where members of 
trade unions of workpeople are engaged in positions of 
trust or confidentiality, provided the right of such em- 
ployees to join or remain members of any trade union 
is not thereby affected. 

Unemployment 

The Committee feel that a satisfactory investigation of the 
problem of unemployment would involve a far-reaching inquiry, 
and in the limited time at their disposal they have not felt able 
to do more than indicate briefly some of the steps which might 
be taken to minimize or alleviate unemployment. 

(a) Prevention of Unemployment 

i. Organised Short Time. — It is already the practice in a large 
number of trades to meet periods of depression by systematic 
short time working. The Committee think that this method of 
avoiding displacement of labor and the consequent risk and incon- 
venience to the workpeople concerned has considerable value. In 
this connection, they suggest that the machinery of the Joint In- 
dustrial Councils or other joint representative bodies in each 
industry affords a convenient method of controlling and regulating 
short time working as a means of preventing unemployment. 

Regard should be had at the same time to paragraph 8 below. 



328 MASTERS AND MEN 

2. Overtime. — During periods of depression in an industry, 
overtime should only be worked in special cases which should be 
determined in accordance with rules laid down in the case of each 
industry by its Industrial Council or other joint representative 
body. 

3. Stabilising Employment. — In order to provide against the 
fluctuating demand for labor the Committee think that the Gov- 
ernment should undertake the definite duty of stimulating the 
demand for labor in bad times by postponing contracts of a non- 
urgent character until it is necessary to promote a demand for 
labor owing to falling trade. For this purpose in allocating Gov- 
ernment orders consideration should of course be given to the 
circumstances of the industry concerned. The Committee are of 
opinion that much more effective action could be taken if all 
orders for particular classes of commodities were dealt with by 
one Government Department. It would further be an advantage 
in order that the policy which they have indicated should be car- 
ried out that all Government contracting should be supervised by 
one authority. Local authorities should be urged to adopt a 
similar policy with regard to work under their control. 

4. Housing. — In order to meet the present crisis the Committee 
recommend that the Government should without delay proceed 
with a comprehensive housing program in order to meet the 
acknowledged shortage of houses. By this means employment 
would be secured primarily in the building and furnishing trades, 
and indirectly in almost all other trades. The Committee urge 
that where local authorities fail to utilize their powers to provide 
suitable housing ascommodation, the Local Government Board 
should take the necessary steps for the erection of suitable houses 
in the area of the Authority and under special powers if necessary 
compel local authorities to act in accordance with the housing 
needs of the district. 

5. State Development of Industry. — The demand for labor could 
also be increased by State development of new industries such as 
Afforestation, Reclamation of Waste Lands, Development of In- 
land Waterways, and in agricultural districts the development of 
light railways and/or road transport. These are some of the 
measures which in the opinion of the Committee might be 
adopted as a means of permanently increasing the demand for 
labor. 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 329 

6. Underconsumption and Higher Production. — Whilst the 
Committee recognize that these questions have a most important 
bearing on the problem of unemployment, they are agreed that their 
importance is such as to demand that far closer consideration 
should be given to them than can be given by this Committee, and 
it has already been indicated in an earlier paragraph of this 
report that this is a matter which might appropriately be the sub- 
ject of consideration by the National Industrial Council. 

7. Efficacy of Industrial Councils. — The Committee feel that, 
in regard to unemployment, as well as for other purposes, the insti- 
tion of Industrial Councils or similar joint representative bodies 
will develop a sense of common responsibility amongst employers 
and employed, and that it will provide machinery through which 
the trade, acting as a whole, can in many ways minimize or pre- 
vent unemployment. In particular such Councils would be in a 
position to collect information and make necessary adjustments in 
an organized way to meet the ebb and flow of trade. 

(&) Maintenance of Unemployed Workpeople 

8. Provision of Maintenance. — The Committee are unanimous 
in their view that the normal provision for maintenance during 
unemployment should be more adequate and of wider application 
than is provided by the National Insurance (Unemployment) 
Acts. They think, moreover, that whatever may be the basis of 
the scheme ultimately adopted, it should include provisions for 
under-employment as well as for unemployment. 

9. Education and Training. — Whether provision for unemploy- 
ment is made on a contributory or non-contributory basis, the 
Committee think that it is very desirable that the scheme should 
include provisions for enabling the workers, whilst unemployed, 
and in receipt of unemployment benefit, to get access, without 
payment of fees, to opportunities for continuing their education 
and improving their qualifications. This is specially desirable in 
the case of young persons. It should be the normal arrangement 
for young persons, that whenever unemployed, they should be 
required to continue their education at centers where such facili- 
ties are provided by the Local Education Authority. 

10. Domestic Employment for Married Women and Widows. — 
The effect on the labor market of the employment of married 
women and widows, particularly those who have young children, 



330 MASTERS AND MEN 

was brought forward, but owing to the fact that the Committee 
had no official information at their disposal, they felt they were 
unable to express an opinion without having full particulars of 
the circumstances and conditions under which the employment of 
mothers is carried on. The Committee feel that the subject is so 
important that a special inquiry should be immediately instituted 
to investigate the whole matter, and thereafter submit a report. 

11. Limitation of Child Labor. — The Committee are of opinion 
that child labor is bad in principle, and in practice tends to de- 
crease the chances of adult employment. For these reasons, with- 
out going into details, the Committee think that the age at which 
a child should enter employment should be raised beyond the 
present limit. 

12. Sickness Benefit and Old Age Pensions. — The opinion of the 
Committee is that the amount of sickness and infirmity benefits 
should be examined with a view to more generous provisions being 
made. 

In regard to Old Age Pensions, they consider that the age of 
qualification should be reduced, that more liberal allowance should 
be paid, and that the disqualification in respect of income should 
be modified. 

The Committee feel that these questions require immediate 
consideration, and they urge the necessity of appointing a Com- 
mittee to investigate them and report. 

National Industrial Council 

As already indicated in this report, the Committee are impressed 
with the importance of establishing without delay some form of 
permanent representative National Industrial Council. 

The considered views of the Committee are as follows: 

Preamble 

A National Industrial Council should not supersede any of the 
existing agencies for dealing with industrial questions. Its object 
would be to supplement and co-ordinate the existing sectional 
machinery by bringing together the knowledge and experience of 
all sections and focussing them upon the problems that affect indus- 
trial relations as a whole. Its functions, therefore, would be 
advisory. 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 331 

Such a Council would have to be large in order to give due 
representation to all the industrial interests concerned; at the 
same time, it should be as small as is consistent with an adequate 
representative basis. Since in any case it would be too large 
for the transaction of detailed business, a Standing Committee, 
large enough to insure that it will not be unrepresentative, will 
be needed. The Council must be elected, not nominated, other- 
wise its authority will not be adequate to the proper discharge 
of its functions. The method of election must be determined by 
each side for itself, subject to two conditions: first, that the 
members must be representative of organizations, not of individual 
employers or workpeople ; and, second, that the organizations con- 
cerned adopt such a method of election or appointment that their 
nominees can be regarded as fully representative. 

In order that the Council may have the necessary independent 
status and authority if it is to promote industrial peace, the Gov- 
ernment should recognize it as the official consultative authority 
to the Government upon industrial relations, and should make it 
the normal channel through which the opinion and experience of 
industry will be sought on all questions with which industry as a 
whole is concerned. 

In addition to advising the Government the Council should, 
when it thought fit, issue statements on industrial questions or 
disputes for the guidance of public opinion. 

Objects 

To secure the largest possible measure of joint action between 
the representative organizations of employers and workpeople, and 
to be the normal channel through which the opinion and experi- 
ence of industry will be sought by the Government on all ques- 
tions affecting industry as a whole. 

It will be open to the Council to take any action that falls 
within the scope of its general definition. Among its more 
specific objects will be: 

(a) The consideration of general questions affecting industrial 

relations. 

(b) The consideration of measures for joint or several action 

to anticipate and avoid threatened disputes. 



332 MASTERS AND MEN 

(c) The consideration of actual disputes involving general 

questions. 

(d) The consideration of legislative proposals affecting indus- 

trial relations. 

(e) To advise the Government on industrial questions and on 

the general industrial situation. 
(/) To issue statements for the guidance of public opinion on 
industrial issues. 



Constitution 
I. The Council 

1. The Council shall consist of four hundred members fully 
representative of and duly accredited by the Employers' organiza- 
tions and the Trade Unions, to be elected as to one half by the 
Employers' organizations and as to one half by the Trade Unions. 

2. Subject to the conditions stated in Clause I, the method of 
election and allocation of representatives shall be determined by 
each side for itself. The scheme proposed by the Trade Union 
members of the Committee for the election of Trade Union rep- 
resentatives is shown in the Appendix to this report. 

3. Members of the Council shall retire annually, and shall be 
eligible for re-election by the organizations which they represent. 
Casual vacancies may be filled by the side in which the vacancy 
occurs, any member so appointed to sit until the end of the cur- 
rent year. 

4. The Council shall meet at least twice a year, and in addition 
as often as the Standing Committee hereafter referred to deem 
to be necessary. 

5. The Minister of Labor for the time being shall be President 
of the Council and shall, when possible, preside at its meetings. 
There shall be three Vice-Presidents, one appointed by the Gov- 
ernment to be Chairman of the Standing Committee hereafter 
referred to, one elected by and from the Employers' representa- 
tives on the Council, one elected by and from the Trade Unions' 
representatives. In the absence of the President, the Chairman 
of the Standing Committee shall preside, in his absence one of the 
other Vice-Presidents. 

The Chairman of the Committee shall be a whole-time officer, 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 333 

and shall have associated with him two secretaries, one appointed 
by the Employers' representatives on the Council, one appointed 
by the Trade Unions' representatives. 

6. Voting. — The two sides of the Council shall vote separately, 
and no resolution shall be declared carried unless approved by a 
majority of those present on each side. Each side shall determine 
for itself the method of voting. 

7. Finance. — The expenses of the Council, subject to sanction 
by the Treasury, shall be borne by the Government. 

8. The Council shall be empowered to make Standing Orders 
for the conduct of its business. 



77. The Standing Committee 

1. There shall be a Standing Committee of the Council, con- 
sisting of 25 members elected by and from the Employers' rep- 
resentatives of the Council, and 25 members elected by and from 
the Trade Union representatives. 

2. The method of election of members shall be determined by 
each side of the Council for itself. 

3. The Standing Committee shall be empowered to take such 
action as it deems to be necessary to carry out the objects of the 
Council. It shall consider any questions referred to it by the 
Council or the Government, and shall report to the Council its 
decisions. 

4. The Standing Committee shall be empowered to appoint an 
Emergency Committee and such Sub-Committees as may be 
necessary. 

5. The Standing Committee shall be empowered to co-opt rep- 
resentatives of any trade not directly represented upon it for 
the consideration of any question affecting that trade. 

6. The Standing Committee shall meet as often as may be 
necessary, and at least once a month. 

7. The Government shall appoint a Chairman to the Standing 
Committee, who shall preside at its meetings, but shall have no 
vote. There shall be two Vice-Chairmen, one elected by and 
from the Employers' representatives on the Committee, and one 
by and from the Trade Union representatives. In the absence of 
the Chairman, the Vice-Chairmen shall preside in turn. 

8. The Standing Committee, with the consent of the Treasury, 



334 MASTERS AND MEN 

shall be empowered to appoint such secretaries and other officers 
as may be necessary for the conduct of its business. 

9. The Standing Committee shall be empowered to make Stand- 
ing Orders for the conduct of its business. 

10. Finance. — The expenses of the Standing Committee shall, 
subject to sanction by the Treasury, be borne by the Government. 

Reference Clause 

If any question arises as to the meaning or intention of this 
Report, it should be referred for consideration to the National 
Industrial Council. 



SUMMARY 

The views of the Committee on the questions with which they 
have been able to deal in the time at their disposal, may be sum- 
marized as follows: 

Hours 

(a) The establishment by legal enactment of the principle of 

a maximum normal working week of 48 hours, subject to — 

(b) Provision for varying the normal hours in proper cases, 

with adequate safeguards. 

(c) Hours agreements between employers and trade unions to 

be capable of application to the trade concerned. 

(d) Systematic overtime to be discouraged and unavoidable 

overtime to be paid for at special rates. 

Wages 

(a) The establishment by legal enactment of minimum time- 

rates of wages, to be of universal applicability. 

(b) A Commission to report within three months as to what 

these minimum rates should be. 

(c) Extension of the establishment of Trade Boards for less 

organized trades. 

(d) Minimum time-rates agreements between employers and 

trade unions to be capable of application to all employers 
engaged in the trade falling within the scope of the agree- 
ment. 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 335 

(e) Wages (Temporary Regulation) Act, 1918, to continue for 
a further period of six months from 21st May, 1919. 

(/) Trade Conferences to be held to consider how war ad- 
vances and bonuses should be dealt with, and, in particu- 
lar, whether they should be added to the time-rates or 
piecework prices or should be treated separately as ad- 
vances given on account of the conditions due to the war. 

Recognition of, and negotiations between, organisations of em~ 
ployers and workpeople 

(a) Basis of negotiation between employers and workpeople 
should be full and frank acceptance of employers' or- 
ganizations and trade unions as the recognized organiza- 
tions to speak and act on behalf of their members. 

(&) Members should accept the jurisdiction of their respective 
organizations. 

(c) Employers' organizations and trade unions should enter 
into negotiations for the establishment of machinery, or 
the revision of existing machinery, for the avoidance of 
disputes, with provision for a representative method of 
negotiation in questions in which the same class of 
employers or workpeople are represented by more than 
one organization respectively, and for the protection of 
employers' interests where members of trade unions of 
workpeople are engaged in positions of trust or confiden- 
tiality, provided the right of such employees to join or 
remain members of any trade union is not thereby 
affected. 

Unemployment 

(1) Prevention of Unemployment 

(a) Organized short time has considerable value in periods of 

depression. The joint representative bodies in each trade 
afford convenient machinery for controlling and regulat- 
ing short time. 

(b) Government orders should be regulated with a view to 

stabilizing employment. 

(c) Government housing schemes should be pressed forward 

without delay. 



336 MASTERS AND MEN 

(d) Demand for labor could be increased by State development 
of new industries. 



(2) Maintenance of Unemployed Workpeople 

(e) Normal provision for maintenance during unemployment 
should be more adequate and of wider application, and 
should be extended to under-employment. 

(/) Unemployed persons, and particularly young persons, 
should have free opportunities of continuing their educa- 
tion. 

(g) The employment of married women and widows who have 
young children should be subject of a special inquiry. 

(h) The age at which a child should enter employment should 
be raised beyond the present limit. 

(i) Sickness and Infirmity Benefits, and Old Age Pensions re- 
quire immediate investigation with a view to more gen- 
erous provisions being made. 

National Industrial Council 

(a) A permanent National Industrial Council should be estab- 
lished to consider and advise the Government on national 
industrial questions. 

(6) It should consist of 400 members, 200 elected by employers* 
organizations, and 200 by trade unions. 

(c) The Minister of Labor should be President of the Council. 

(d) There should be a Standing Committee of the Council num- 

bering 50 members, and consisting of 25 members elected 
by and from the employers' representatives, and 25 by 
and from the trade union representatives, on the Council. 

There has been apparent throughout the proceedings an earnest 
anxiety on the part of the representatives, both of employers and 
employed, to approach the subjects of their discussion in a spirit 
of mutual accommodation so as to arrive at a satisfactory settle- 
ment of outstanding difficulties. The Committee confidently be- 
lieve that if effect is given to the recommendations now made, 
and if the same spirit that has characterized the deliberations of 
the Committee actuates the future consideration of other diffi- 
culties that exist or may arise, much will have been done to pro- 



INDUSTRIAL CONFERENCE 337 

mote that spirit of mutual confidence which is a first essential to 
the effective and successful conduct of industry in the interests of 
employers and employed and the nation generally. 

In conclusion, the Committee desire to say that they welcome 
the steps now being taken in the direction of International regu- 
lation of labor conditions, as they believe that a satisfactory ad- 
justment of labor conditions on an International basis will have 
a beneficial effect on industrial problems in this country. 

Thos. Munro, 

Chairman. 
Allan M. Smith, 
Chairman of Employers' Representatives. 

Arthur Henderson, 
Chairman of Trade Union Representatives. 
C. S. Hurst, 
Secretary. 

APPENDIX 

Provisional Scheme for Trade Union Representation on 
the National Industrial Council 

i. Each Union with more than 20,000 members is entitled to 
separate representation on the following basis — one representative 
for each complete 20,000 members up to 100,000, and one repre- 
sentative for each further 50,000 after the first 100,000. 

2. Any federation may, with the consent of the Unions forming 
the federation, be represented on the same numerical basis, pro- 
vided that no Union's membership may be counted twice over in 
whole or in part, whether through two federations or once through 
a federation and once on its own behalf. 

3. The Societies are grouped in the following 20 groups: 

(1) Mining and Quarrying. 

(2) Railways. 

(3) Other Transport. 

(4) Iron and Steel Trades. 

(5) Engineering and Foundry Workers. 

(6) Shipyards. 



338 MASTERS AND MEN 

(7) Building and Woodworking. 

(8) Printing and Paper. 

(9) Cotton. 

(10) Other Textiles. 

(11) Boot and Shoe and Leather. 

(12) Clothing. 

(13) Food Trades. 

(14) Distributive Trades. 

(15) Agriculture. 

(16) Clerks and Agents. 

(17) Government Employees. 

(18) General Labor. 

(19) Women Workers. 

(20) Miscellaneous Trades. 



CHAPTER II 

ORGANIZED PUBLIC SERVICE IN THE BUILDING 
INDUSTRY 

Being the Interim Report of the Committee of Scientific 

Management and Reduction of Costs, Appointed by 

the Industrial Council for the Building Industry 

THE COMMITTEE 
The Committee consisted of the following members: 

Employers 

Mr. R. B. Chessum London Federation of Building Trades 

Employers. 

" J. P. Cox, J.P Institute of Plumbers. 

" T. Foster North Western Federation of B.T.E. 

" T. Graham Scottish National Building Trades Fed- 
eration. 

" H. T. Hollow ay ....London Federation of B.T.E. 

" S. Smethurst, J.P. ..North Western Federation of B.T.E. 

" J. F. Turner .... Scottish National Building Trades Fed- 
eration. 

" F. G. Whittall Midland Federation of B.T.E. 

Operatives 
Mr. J. Armour Operative Stonemasons' Association (Scot- 
land). 

" W. Cross Amalgamated Slaters Society of Scotland. 

" J. H. Edmiston x Operative Plumbers and Domestic Engi- 
neers. 

" T. Gregory Manchester Unity of Operative Brick- 
layers. 

" R. Jones United Order of General Laborers of 

London. 

" H. J. Walker Amalgamated Society of Carpenters, Cab- 
inet Makers, and Joiners. 

" W. Williams Operative Stonemasons' Society. 

1 Mr. Edmiston retired owing to ill health, and was consequently 
present at none of the meetings. 

339 



340 MASTERS AND MEN 

Councilor R. Wilson Amalgamated Slaters and Tilers Provident 

Society. 

Co-opted 

Mr. Malcolm Sparkes was co-opted a member of the Committee 
on April 9th, 1919. 



INTERIM REPORT 



To J. Storrs, Esq., J.P. (Chairman), 
The Industrial Council for the Building Industry 

Sir, 

We have the honor to submit the following Interim Report on 
Organized Public Service in the Building Industry. 



Introduction 

1. This Committee was appointed to consider the question of 
Scientific Management and Reduction of Costs with a view to 
enabling the Building Industry to render the most efficient service 
possible. 

2. The terms " Scientific Management and Reduction of Costs " 
do not at first sight suggest any very far-reaching inquiry, but we 
decided unanimously at our first meeting that if we were to do 
any really useful work we must review the whole structure of 
the building industry in order to bring forward recommendations 
that would be of real service. 

3. Although in the fabric of our industrial order, the material 
and the human sides are so intimately interwoven that it is impos- 
sible completely to separate them, we found it useful to set up 
two sub-committees to specialize respectively on the twin subjects 
of production and distribution of the product. The recommenda- 
tions of these two groups have been reviewed by the full com- 
mittee, and are combined in the document we now present. 

4. As our investigation proceeded, we became more and more 
impressed with the immense possibilities lying latent in the new 
system of industrial self-government implied in the constitution 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 341 

of our Industrial Council, and we believe that, given the vision, 
the faith and the courage, our industry will be enabled to lead 
the way in the industrial and social re-adjustments that are 
imminent. 

We have glimpsed the possibility of the whole Building Industry 
of Great Britain being welded together into one great self- 
governing democracy of organized public service, uniting a full 
measure of free initiative and enterprise with all the best that 
applied science and research can render. The whole trend of 
modern industrial development is already setting in this direction. 
We have now much valuable experience of control by the State, 
by the municipality, by the co-operative organizations of con- 
sumers, by the joint stock company, and by individual private 
enterprise. Most of these forms of control offer advantages, but 
each of them presents serious defects. 

5. We believe that the great task of our Industrial Council is 
to develop an entirely new system of industrial control by the 
members of the industry itself — the actual producers, whether by 
hand or brain — and to bring them into co-operation with the State 
as the central representative of the community whom they are 
organized to serve. Nothing short of this will produce the full 
development of the " team spirit " in industry, which is the key 
to the whole problem of production; nothing short of this is 
worthy of the high ideals for which our Industrial Council stands. 
But such a reconstruction of our industrial fabric cannot be 
achieved in a day. There are many problems that require patient 
experiment, and experience must be purchased in the school of 
trial and error. Our hope for the future lies in the liberation 
and right direction of men's true generous qualities of goodwill, 
enthusiasm, and adventure. They must be our constant guide, 
and no fear of risks that seem to be involved must allow us to 
deny them. 

6. The recommendations that we now bring forward are there- 
fore based upon their immediate availability, and are designed to 
lay the foundation of an industrial system which, while giving 
full play to individual enterprise and complete freedom from the 
benumbing hand of bureaucracy, shall yet tend to develop that 
sense of comradeship and solidarity that is so essential for effi- 
cient service. 

We believe that they will be much improved by full discussion 



342 MASTERS AND MEN 

and frank criticism in the Council, and we submit them in the 
belief that if our industry will give a clear and courageous lead 
in the direction we have tried to indicate, its example will be of 
the greatest possible service to our country at this critical time 
of transition. 

The Problem Stated 

7. It became clear at a very early stage that there are four 
main factors that tend to the restriction of output. They are: 

(a) The fear of unemployment. 

(&) The disinclination of the operatives to make unrestricted 
profit for private employers. 

(c) The lack of interest in the industry evidenced by operatives 

owing to their non-participation in control. 

(d) Inefficiency, both managerial and operative. 

8. We begin then with the question of employment. 

In a report such as this it seems unnecessary to elaborate the 
well-known seasonal difficulties with which our industry is con- 
fronted. We therefore immediately proceed to indicate the lines 
of remedy. 

The Regularization of Demand 

9. The aim we have in view is the development of the highest 
possible efficiency in a well organized building service. To this 
end we consider it essential that the whole productive capacity 
of the industry should be continuously engaged and absorbed, and 
that a regular flow of contracts should replace the old haphazard 
alterations of congestion and stagnation. 

It is well-known that the proportion of public to private work 
is very considerable, and that it is well within the powers of 
public authorities to speed up or to delay contracts. We there- 
fore recommend: 

(a) That the Industrial Council shall set up a permanent Com- 
mittee entitled The Building Trades Central Employment 
Committee, with the necessary clerical staff. 

(6) That each Regional Council shall similarly set up a Build- 
ing Trades Regional Employment Committee. 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 343 

(c) That each Local or Area Council shall similarly set up a 

Building Trades Area Employment Committee. 

(d) That each Committee shall consist of an equal number of 

employers and operatives with one architect appointed 
by the local professional Association of Architects or by 
the R. I. B. A., as may be most appropriate. 

10. The first duty of these committees would be to regularize 
the demand for building. 

(a) At the approach of slack periods, by accelerating new 

building enterprises, both public and private, with the 
co-operation of architects and local authorities. 

(b) Conversely, at periods of congestion, by advising building 

owners to postpone the construction of such works as 
are not of an urgent character. 

ii. Except when modified by special arrangements we recom- 
mend that the Central, Regional, and Area Employment Com- 
mittees should co-operate with the appropriate State, county or 
district authorities. 

Although we propose that these Committees should consist of 
producers only, we contemplate the fullest possible co-operation 
with the Government and local authorities at every stage, not only 
because they are important customers, themselves, but also because 
they are the duly elected representatives of the consuming public. 

12. We recognize that such a scheme would involve some measure 
of restraint upon individual employers and realize that the small 
non-federated employer would be an obstacle to its ordered work- 
ing, but we are convinced that combined pressure by members of 
the Building Trades' Parliament or its constituents should even- 
tually overcome this obstacle. Such spreading over of work from 
year to year and season to season will not of itself solve the whole 
problem of providing a steady stream of work. 

The Decasualization of Labor 

13. We recommend that the second main function of the Local 
Employment Committee shall be the decasualization of labor, and 
the difficulty of providing employment during wet and bad seasons 
has yet to be faced. We feel that a certain amount of investiga- 



344 MASTERS AND MEN 

tion is still needed in this direction and venture to suggest that the 
Building Trades' Parliament should approach the representatives 
of other industries and public authorities with a view to investi- 
gating the possibility of "dove-tailing" or seasonal interchange 
of labor. 

There would appear to be a large volume of national and pri- 
vate work which could be undertaken when the industry itself 
could not usefully employ all its available labor, for example: 

(a) Afforestation. 

(b) Roadmaking. 

(c) The preparation of sites for housing schemes. 

(d) Demolition of unsanitary or condemned areas in prepara- 

tion for improvements. 

14. The question of the method of paying men so engaged in 
other occupations in bad seasons will be considered later in rela- 
tion to the scheme we are recommending for the provision of 
unemployment pay. 

15. When all other methods of providing steady and adequate 
employment for the operatives have been exhausted, then the 
industry is faced with the question of its responsibility toward its 
employees during possible periods of unemployment. We are con- 
vinced that the overhanging fear of unemployment must be finally 
removed before the operative can be expected whole-heartedly 
to give of his best. Considerations of humanity and efficiency alike, 
therefore, demand that provision shall be made by the industry 
itself adequately to maintain the operative and his family during 
any period of unemployment arising from causes outside his 
control. 

This accomplished, we believe that the whole atmosphere of 
industry will experience a great and vitalizing change, and that 
efficiency of production will be much increased. 

16. We accordingly suggest that termination of employment 
upon any job should be subject to one week's notice instead of 
one hour (except in the case of a strike or lock-out) and that the 
local Employment Committee should be immediately notified of 
such approaching terminations and also of all vacancies occurring. 

The machinery for filling vacancies already exists in the trade 
union organization and should be developed to the greatest pos- 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 345 

sible extent, in order to supplement the State Employment Ex- 
changes, so far as the building industry is concerned. 

Unemployment Pay 

17. We further recommend that in cases of unavoidable unem- 
ployment, the maintenance of its unemployed members shall be 
undertaken by the industry through its Employment Committees, 
and that the necessary revenue should be raised by means of a 
fixed percentage on the wages bills and paid weekly to the Employ- 
ment Committee by each employer on the joint certificate of him- 
self and a shop steward or other accredited trade union represen- 
tative. 

18. The amount of the percentage charge necessary to raise 
funds for the maintenance of members unavoidably unemployed 
will naturally depend upon the amount of the State subsidy for the 
purpose, and also upon the efficiency of the Employment Com- 
mittees in the matter of : 

(a) Regularization of demand, and 

(b) Decasualization of labor, 

but it is already evident from past experience that the percentage 
will certainly be small, and that a charge of 5 per cent would 
probably be more than ample. An estimate of the revenue required 
for the coming year should be laid before the Industrial Council 
annually and the rate of percentage fixed accordingly. 

19. While the collection of this revenue should be carried out 
by the Employment Committees, the payments should be made by 
periodical refund to the trade unions, who would thus become an 
important integral part of the official machinery and would dis- 
tribute the unemployment pay in accordance with the regulations 
prescribed by the Industrial Council and its Committees. 

20. Every duly registered member when prevented, for a period 
to be fixed, from working at the proper craft at the full standard 
rates of the district, should be entitled to unemployment pay, 
whether the cause be sickness, accident, shortage of work, or stress 
of weather. In all cases the amount would be inclusive of any 
benefit under the State and Trade Unions schemes. 

21. We further recommend that every registered member should 
be entitled to one week's summer holiday pay per annum, and at 



346 MASTERS AND MEN 

the same scale and from the same fund as the unemployment 
pay. 

22. For purpose of this scheme " Members of the Industry " 
would be trade unionists engaged therein, including the clerical, 
technical and managerial staffs, who register with the Employment 
Committees for participation. 

23. During unemployment all men should receive half their full 
wage, supplemented in the case of a married man by one-tenth of 
his full wage for his wife and each of his children up to four 
children, under sixteen years of age. When the industry becomes 
responsible in this way for unemployment pay, apart from the con- 
tributions which it already has to pay under the State Unemploy- 
ment schemes, then two essential conditions must be fulfilled: 

(1) The workers by more concentrated effort must increase effi- 
ciency beyond the present standard; and (2) Management and 
Capital must consent to a limitation being imposed upon their earn- 
ings, and should be prepared to adopt methods on their side which 
will lead to greater output. 

We have attempted thoroughly to explore all possible objections 
to the scheme which we are advocating, but the difficulties are not 
sufficiently serious to shake our conviction that with increasing 
goodwill will come higher production, and with better management 
increasing surplus will be available. 

24. The Unemployment Scheme recommended will perform two 
functions at least. It will go far to secure the complete good- 
will of the operative and make unnecessary certain restrictions 
which exist, either tacitly or otherwise, on output; and, secondly, 
by absorbing a certain amount of the surplus earnings of the 
industry, it should tend to meet the disinclination on the part of 
the operatives to make unrestricted profit for private employers. 

25. It has already been recommended that during bad seasons 
operatives should be encouraged to accept work in other occupa- 
tions rather than unemployment pay. The question of remunera- 
tion under such arrangements requires further consideration, and 
we hope to deal with this in a later report. 

26. It is hoped that this scheme will be so satisfactory that it 
will be finally possible to relieve employers of their liability under 
the Workmen's Compensation and the Employers' Liability Acts, 
and to supersede all Trade Union Sickness and Unemployment 
Benefits, and that the industry will obtain powers to contract out 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 347 

of the State scheme. The danger of fraudulent claims upon the 
Unemployment Fund has not been overlooked, but we believe 
that ample safeguards will be found in the utilization of the trade 
union organization for the payment of the money and of the exist- 
ing employment exchange facilities for registration of the unem- 
ployed. Moreover, fraudulent claims cannot easily be put forward, 
because unemployment will only result when the scheme for the 
regularization of employment has failed to absorb any more labor. 

The principle of Joint Committees to act as trustees for such a 
fund does not appear to need any defense. 

2.J. We frankly recognize here that we are again faced with the 
fundamental difficulty that there still exist in the industry large 
numbers of small non-federated employers, and on the other hand 
operatives who are not trade unionists. Nevertheless, we feel that 
the benefits of such a scheme will have a very material effect in 
inducing employers and operatives to come into their respective 
associations. 

The Wages of Management 

28. At this point it is necessary to state that the first question 
discussed by the Committee was the possibility of the adoption by 
individual firms of some scheme of profit-sharing or co-partnership 
which would abolish the second factor limiting output. It immedi- 
ately became clear, however, that such schemes secure no backing, 
either by the trade union representatives or by the majority of the 
operatives. All such methods of payment are strictly forbidden in 
the rules of most trade unions in the industry. Hitherto the rea- 
sons of this objection have been: 

(1) The fear of increased unemployment. 

(2) The fear of disintegrating influences being introduced 

among the workers, thus weakening the authority of the 
trade unions. 

(3) The difficulty of applying most methods of payment by 

results to the peculiar conditions of the building industry. 

29. But it was found that the trade unions involved would be 
prepared to reconsider their attitude if the surplus earnings of the 
industry went not to individuals but to some common service con- 
trolled by the industry as a whole. 



348 MASTERS AND MEN 

30. This brought us immediately to the consideration of the 
wages of management. Here we were immediately faced with the 
peculiarly difficult organization of the building industry. The ease 
with which small businesses can be started with little or no capital, 
makes it possible for many employers to carry on in the dual 
capacity of manager and owner. Many of these men have no 
proper system of accountancy or audit, and would be quite unable, 
if asked, to differentiate between the wages of management and the 
interest on their capital. Many of such concerns are exceedingly 
unstable and, as is well known, are often a source of considerable 
discredit and danger to the industry. In the larger firms the 
managers are again usually principally concerned in the ownership 
of the business, and, therefore, in view of the limitation of the 
rate of interest on their capital, which we recommend in the next 
section, they are directly and intimately concerned with the salaries 
they would receive as managers. Thus, in any attempt to fix some 
scale of remuneration for the different types of management we 
are at once faced with the difficulty of the proper determination 
of an adequate salary. 

31. In parenthesis, we would here like to remark that no oppo- 
sition to an adequate remuneration for management is likely to be 
offered by the trade unions, who may discuss this scheme. We 
feel sure that no fair-minded operative will hesitate to support 
an adequate scale of salaries. The workman demands from the 
management, as does the management from him, the highest pos- 
sible efficiency, and respects it where he finds it. When that is 
rendered his whole tendency is to insist that such service shall 
receive adequate remuneration. 

32. Various alternative suggestions were discussed, and rejected, 
for example: 

(a) To fix salaries in a definite proportion to foremen's wages. 

(b) To fix them in a definite proportion to the profits of the 

business or its turnover. 

(c) To ascertain what the ordinary market value of a manager 

would be. 

33. We finally decided to recommend that the salaries of man- 
agement might first be ascertained by each " Employer-Manager " 
declaring what salary he has received or what he regards as his 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 349 

due. These declarations should be periodically reviewed by the 
Employment Committees appointed under this scheme, the first 
review to ascertain data for possible revision in order to develop 
a recognized standard of remuneration. 

The Hiring of Capital 

34. It will already have become evident that the whole concep- 
tion of organized public service that we are developing, demands 
the acceptance of three main principles as an essential preliminary 
to that increase of efficiency without which the cost to the com- 
munity cannot be reduced. 

(a) Regular rates of pay to the operatives that will insure a 

real and satisfactory standard of comfort. 

(b) Salaries to owner-managers commensurate with their 

ability. 

(c) A regular rate of interest for the hire of capital. 

35. These established, the whole atmosphere will be clarified, 
the interdependence of the different sections will be better under- 
stood and the " team spirit " will rapidly develop. 

The investigation of the hire of capital was, therefore, one of 
the most important, and, at the same time, one of the most dif- 
ficult sections of our inquiry. One of the many unsatisfactory 
features of the building industry hitherto, has been the precarious 
nature of the employers' position and investments. There is no 
need to enlarge upon this — it is well known to those engaged in 
the industry. Recognizing then that confidence on the part of 
employers and operatives alike, is essential for efficiency, we bring 
forward proposals to secure that end. 

In the first place it is necessary that the earnings of employers 
should be clearly and definitely separated under two headings: 

(a) Wages of Management or remuneration paid by the busi- 

ness for personal service. 

(b) Interest or the charges paid by the business for the hire of 

capital. 

Wages of management should depend on ability. Interest on 
capital should depend on security and on the market price of 
money. 



350 MASTERS AND MEN 

The principle of the limitation of the rate of interest on capital 
has already met with wide acceptance in the industrial world, for 
example, by debentures, preference, and loan stocks, as well as the 
ordinary shares of public utility societies. But limitation demands 
security, and security can only be given in return for a measure 
of control. Supervision, limitation, guarantees form, therefore, the 
triple keystone of the plan we now propose. 

36. We recommend that approved capital, invested in the build- 
ing industry, and registered annually after audit, shall receive a 
limited but guaranteed rate of interest, bearing a definite relation 
to the average annual yield of the most remunerative Government 
Stock. The fixing of the ratio will have to be worked out by 
further investigation, but we recommend that once determined 
upon, the guarantee shall apply to all firms in the industry, except 
where failure to earn the aforesaid rate is declared by the Com- 
mittee on the advice of the auditors to be due to incompetent 
management. 

37. The granting of loans for development — a necessary corol- 
lary of the scheme — will be dealt with in connection with the 
surplus earnings of the industry, which forms the subject of a 
later paragraph. 

Accountancy and Audit 

38. The regular employment of qualified accountants for the 
service of the building industry is not only essential for the work- 
ing of this scheme, but will add greatly to the efficiency of every 
firm engaged therein. Moreover, as we shall show in a later sec- 
tion, our Sub-Committee on Production came independently to the 
conclusion that some such system of periodical accounting was 
absolutely necessary in order to place the conduct of the whole 
industry upon a more scientific and efficient basis. 

39. And, just as the professional quantity surveyor is becoming 
recognized as the qualified assessor as between the builder and 
the building owner, so the professional accountant will become the 
recognized assessor as between the builder, the whole body of 
producers, and the larger community of which they form a part. 

The Surplus Earnings of the Industry 

40. While it may be urged that the measures so far projected 
do not take any direct cognizance of the public interest, we believe 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 351 

that a solution of this problem may be found in the control of the 
surplus. We therefore recommend: 

(a) That the amount of the surplus earnings of the industry 

shall be publicly declared every year and accompanied 
by a schedule of the services to which the money has 
been voted. 

(b) That it shall be held in trust by a National Joint Committee 

of the Building Trades Industrial Council, and shall be 

applied to the following common services, which will be 

developed under the control of the industry as a whole. 

(i) Guarantee of interest on approved capital as outlined in 

par. 36. 

(2) Loans to firms in the industry for purposes of develop- 

ment. 

(3) Education and research in various directions for improve- 

ment of the industry, both independently and in co- 
operation with other industries. 

(4) Superannuation schemes for the whole registered per- 

sonnel of the industry. 

(5) Replacement of approved capital lost through no fault of 

the management. 

(6) Such other purposes as may be thought desirable. 

41. We believe that this safeguard of complete publicity will 
not only be very effective in creating public confidence in the 
organized service of the building industry, but will also pave the 
way to the scientific adjustment of prices, by providing the requi- 
site information for the use of the Building Trades Industrial 
Council. Every rise in prices disturbs public confidence, restricts 
demand, and thus depletes both the unemployment and guarantee 
funds and reduces the surplus ; while every fall in prices increases 
public confidence, stimulates demand, and relieves both the unem- 
ployment and guarantee funds. 

And, while we hold that the creation of these common services, 
financed by the surplus earnings of the industry, is necessary for 
the development of the "team spirit" throughout its personnel, 
we are convinced that the public will not only recognize their 
value, but will reap a distinct benefit from an improved product. 
Industries are so intimately interdependent that any increasing 



352 MASTERS AND MEN 

well-being in one must ultimately lead to the benefit of the others 
and to the consumer in particular. 



Conditions of Entry into the Industry 

42. It is obvious that the important improvements we have out- 
lined, will tend to make service in the industry more attractive, and 
while the interests of this public service emphatically demand the 
enrolment of every member who can be trained and utilized in the 
building industry, we fully recognize that indiscriminate enrol- 
ment must be prevented by careful regulation. 

43. We therefore recommend that the development of the in- 
dustry should be kept under constant review by the Employment 
Committees, and that these committees should periodically notify 
the trade unions as to the number of new members that may 
apply for registration under the employment scheme, after a 
suitable trade test or evidence of previous service in the 
industry. 

44. In anticipation of such periodical notifications we further 
recommend that the' trade unions should establish waiting lists 
and that the periods of waiting should be utilized for technical 
training, approved by the Building Trades Parliament. 

45. Similarly the entry of new employers into the industry will 
require careful regulation by the Employment Committees, in order 
to insure that a high standard of efficiency is established and main- 
tained in this connection. We recommend that no loans should 
be made from the Development Funds (suggested in paragraph 40) 
to new firms conducted by private enterprise. New private enter- 
prise should always provide its own initial capital. 

Scientific Management 

46. Our recommendations, so far, have dealt mainly with the 
development of the " team spirit " in industry — that subtle change 
in the industrial atmosphere that will engender throughout the 
whole personnel of the building industry the confidence, enthusiasm 
and sense of common purpose, that are the necessary conditions 
precedent to the full development and operation of really scientific 
methods, on what might be termed the material side of the in- 
dustry. To the consideration of this we now proceed. 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 353 

Costing 

47. An accurate system of costing is the only foundation upon 
which the whole structure of scientific management can be safely 
erected. Without efficient costing no estimator can frame quota- 
tions with the reasonable certainty that he is not heading straight 
for disaster. We believe that it should be possible for the industry 
to adopt some simplified scheme for the use of builders who, at 
present, do not undertake any proper costing. It was generally 
agreed that many builders, especially those managing small busi- 
nesses with a very limited capital, rely almost entirely on rule of 
thumb methods, with the result that their estimating is blind, 
faulty, and quite unscientific. In many cases no proper books are 
kept. Such methods are a danger and discredit to the industry. 
Moreover, this constitutes a great draw-back from the point of 
view of organization and efficiency. 

48. It is not proposed in this Interim Report to give a detailed 
analysis of the whole of the evidence collected from witnesses, but 
to summarize all that seems germane. 

Evidence was taken from Mr. Malcolm Sparkes, formerly of the 
firm of Messrs. H. G. Cleaver, Limited, regarding labor costing by 
diagram. Mr. Danels, of the firm of Messrs. Higgs and Hill, 
Limited, gave evidence regarding costing methods which enable 
his firm to ascertain the costs of the various factors concerned 
when determining contracts on a large scale. Mr. Chessum and 
Mr. Whittall, members of the Committee, also submitted evidence 
regarding methods of costing adopted in their firms. Papers were 
read by Mr. C. F. Chance, of H. M. Factory at Oldbury, and Mr. 
H. Vale of the Quantity Surveyors' Institute, with regard to a 
bonus scheme, based on constants of labor. Every one of these 
wilnesses strongly emphasized the value of accurate costing, espe- 
cially at the present time. Fluctuations in wages and the cost of 
material make this an absolute essential of any modern business. 
Moreover, a standard minimum system, adopted by the whole 
industry, will preserve it from the errors of those builders who 
are prone to accept contracts at less than cost price owing to their 
negligence in estimating or keeping proper costs. 

Essentials of a Minimum System 

49. As a result of considering the evidence, it became clear 
that some simple but generally applicable scheme of costing and 



354 MASTERS AND MEN 

accountancy is not only essential, but possible. And if such a sys- 
tem be made part of the conditions of approval suggested in par. 
36, we believe that it would be universally adopted. 

50. We therefore recommend that the Building Trades Council 
should promote such a scheme or schemes which will fulfil the 
following conditions: 

(a) Simplicity — i.e., not too unwieldy or detailed to be available 

and useful for prompt results. 

(b) Elasticity. 

(c) Accuracy. 

(We would here point out that the investigations and recom- 
mendations of the Sub-Committee on Distribution, make it essen- 
tial that the industry should endeavor to place such a scheme upon 
a proper footing, for, without proper accountancy, their recom- 
mendations would be of no avail.) 

51. Further, we recognize that any such system would involve 
routine, but the experience of those who have given evidence, tes- 
tifies to the value of such routine, and to the small additional 
outlay in skilled staff which it involves. Moreover, any such outlay 
more than repays itself by increased efficiency. 

52. Such a scheme should also provide some method of deter- 
mining with speed and safe approximation and at any stage: 

(a) The proportion of the cost of the various items of labor 

to the total cost at any stage. 

(b) The proportion of establishment charges to total costs. 

(c) The proportion of the other factors involved. 

(d) Departmental costs. 

53. We were aware, however, that the improvement in mana- 
gerial or office routine was of itself not sufficient. We therefore 
invited criticism, by operatives engaged in the various crafts, of 
existing works organization. Here we found a remarkable unani- 
mity of view that whatever mechanical readjustments are adopted 
the greatest increase of production will come from mutual esteem 
between management (in the wider sense including foremen) and 
operatives. 

54. The bulk of the evidence led us to the following additional 
recommendations : 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 355 

(a) That there should be more inducement to the most talented 

operatives to increase their efficiency, and to undertake 
positions of greater responsibility. 

(b) That every care should be taken, especially in sub-contract- 

ing work, to provide a sufficiency of plant. 

(c) That production can be considerably increased by organiz- 

ing the position of scaffolding and the disposition of 
material, in order to arrange a continuity of employment 
for the ultimate handler of the material. It is better for 
the material to wait for the men than the men for the 
material. 

(d) Workshops should be specially built or adapted for the pur- 

pose in view, and should contain the best devices for 
insuring the easiest possible manipulation of material. 
(Very strong criticism was directed against many of the 
existing workshops, which were considered quite unfit 
for the nature of the work to be carried out in them.) 
It is clear that a detailed study of processes and a variety 
of experiments would afford in many cases considerable 
increases in output. 

(e) A better output will be obtained if the personal comfort 

of the operatives is provided for by canteens, sanitary 
arrangements, etc., whether at the works or on jobs. 
Where such accommodation is provided, the operatives 
should make fuller use of such facilities. 

Works Committees 

55. We realize that no uniform arrangements or recommenda- 
tions beyond a minimum can be made, as local conditions vary so 
considerably, nor can we presume to advise the individual employer 
how to organize any particular operation. But we realize very 
strongly the value of useful suggestions by the operatives. We 
therefore recommend that this can be best utilized by the estab- 
lishment of Works Committees upon which management and labor 
may interchange their specialist knowledge and discuss questions 
of mutual interest. Other benefits would undoubtedly accrue. The 
value of joint organization would be brought more nearly home 
to the whole of the employers and operatives alike, and thus the 
work of the Building Trades Industrial Council would be more 
keenly and nearly appreciated in all localities and workshops. 



356 MASTERS AND MEN 

Conclusion 

In summing up the conclusions that we have reached, we would 
again lay special emphasis upon the keynote of our work; the 
development of the "team spirit" in industry which we believe to 
be the only real solution of the whole problem of production. 

This analogy of the athletic team conveys our meaning more 
accurately than any other form of words we can devise — implying, 
as it does, a fundamental basis of loyalty, enthusiasm, and efficiency 
for a common aim. 

It sounds across the whole industrial arena the trumpet call of 
a new idea — the conception of our industry as a great self-govern- 
ing democracy of organized public service. 

We have endeavored, we hope successfully, to outline the true 
foundation for such a consummation, namely: 

Freedom and security for initiative and enterprise. 
Complete removal of the fear of unemployment. 
Salaries to management commensurate with ability. 
Hire of capital at the market rate of good securities. 
Provision of common services controlled by the whole industry, 
and financed from its surplus earnings. 

We have not hesitated to make great demands, for the emer- 
gency and the opportunity are also great, and this is no time for 
dalliance. 

We believe that the spectacle of organized management and 
labor, uniting their constructive energies upon a bold scheme of 
reorganization and advance will transform the whole atmosphere 
of our industrial life, and that the force of a great example is the 
only thing that will lead the way to the commonwealth that all men 
of goodwill desire. 

We have the honor to be, Sir, 

Your obedient Servants, 
THOS. FOSTER, Chairman. 1 R. JONES. 
W. CROSS, Vice-Chairman. MALCOLM SPARKES. 
J. ARMOUR. H. J. WALKER. 

J. P. COX. 1 W. WILLIAMS. 

THOS. GRAHAM. 1 R. WILSON. 

T. GREGORY. 

1 These three are employers. 



PUBLIC SERVICE IN BUILDING INDUSTRY 357 

Messrs. Chessum, Holloway, Smethurst, Turner, and Whit- 
tall, while agreeing with some of the proposals contained in the 
Report, do not see their way to sign it without important reserva- 
tions. 



CHAPTER III 

JOINT STANDING INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS 
(The Whitleys) 

Notes on their Work, July, 1919, by the Ministry of Labor 

I. — Wages 

Asbestos. — Existing time rates to be paid for 48-hour week. Rates 
for piecework to be raised 15 per cent. 

Bedsteads (Metallic). — The Conciliation Board for this Industry, 
which retains a separate existence, has been sitting to arrange 
new piecework prices for the whole of the Industry. 

Bobbins. — An agreement was arrived at in November, 1918, pro- 
viding for minimum wages of 60s. for skilled men, 53s. 6d. for 
lesser skilled men, 45s. for laborers, and 25s. 6d. for women, 
with scales according to age for juvenile workers. In May, 
1919, this agreement was superseded by an award of the Court 
of Arbitration. This award which (excludes Scotland) gave 
advances of 6s. per week to skilled men, 5s. to lesser skilled 
men, 4s. to laborers and women, and 2s. 6d. to juvenile 
workers. 

Bread Baking. — Minimum wage fixed at 60s. in industrial areas, 
55s. in rural areas. 

China Clay. — Agreement arrived at on 4th February, 1919 (dated 
back to 1st January, 1919), providing for payment to male 
time workers of is. id. per hour (6d. of which is war wage), 
overtime to be paid time and a quarter on weekdays and time 
and a half on Sundays on repair work. Boys to receive a pro- 
portionate increase of men's war increase, in proportion to 
pay, with a minimum of is. 6d. per day, plus increase. Com- 
petent blacksmiths, carpenters, and masons are to be paid a 
minimum wage of is. 2d. per hour. Females on time work 
are to receive a minimum wage of 25s. per week. Piece- 
workers will receive an increase of 21s. 6d. per week in addi- 
tion to the piecework rates existing at July, 1914. 

Coir Mat and Matting. — 15 per cent increase on bonuses agreed 

358 



JOINT STANDING INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS 359 

upon (20 per cent in Eastern Counties), pending general re- 
vision of piece-prices. 

Elastic Webbing. — Council failed to agree on claim for uniform 
and advanced rates of wages, and referred matter for arbi- 
tration to Wages and Arbitration Department of Ministry of 
Labor. Hearing took place on 22nd May. The Award (31st 
May) has given 32s. for 48 hours to women of 20 years and 
over, 100 per cent over pre-war rates to female pieceworkers, 
and advances of 30s. on time work and 75 per cent on piece- 
work to men. 

Furniture. — Standard rate for London upholsterers and uphol- 
steresses and standard rate for women polishers in London 
district settled by National Conciliation Board (formed by the 
Council), and approved under Wages (Temporary Regula- 
tion) Act. 

Gold, Silver, Etc. — 5 per cent increase on all rates for piece- 
workers, to compensate for reduced hours. 

Hosiery (English). — December, 1918. Additional bonus agreed 
to, of i^d. in the is. upon wages earned, making total of 
6>^d. in all. In force till end of March, 1919. April 10th, 
1919, agreed that piece rates should be increased by 7^ per 
cent., 3d. an hour increase to be paid for overtime instead of 
2d. increase now paid. Same weekly time rate to be paid for 
shorter working week (48 hours). 

Hosiery (Scottish). — Wage claims to be dealt with by full 
Council or District Council according to general or district 
character of claim. 

Leather Goods. — National minimum daily rate for males to be 
is. 5d. per hour. Pieceworkers, male and female, to receive 
an increase of 12^2 per cent, pending the settlement of their 
application. Female day workers not to receive less for a 
48-hour week than they received for the longer working week, 
pending the settlement of their present application. 

Local Authorities' Non-Trading Services (Manual Workers) 
(England and Wales). — Agreement arrived at on overtime 
rates, providing that after 47 hours per week have been 
worked or otherwise accounted for by sickness covered by a 
medical certificate or by employer's permission or instruction 
to be absent, overtime shall commence, and the rates shall be 
time and a quarter for the first three hours overtime, time and 



360 MASTERS AND MEN 

a half beyond three hours, and double time for Sundays, 
Christmas Day, and Good Friday where that is recognized as 
a general holiday, and proclaimed national holidays, but this 
is not intended to affect any existing local arrangement which 
is more beneficial to the employees and shall not apply to the 
class of men whose overtime rate is dealt with by the Agri- 
cultural Wages Board. 

Matches. — Same wages to be fixed for 47-hour week as before 
hours agreement. 

Paint, Color, and Varnish. — Men and women over 18 to receive 
5s. per week, under 18, 2s. 6d., on total war wage existing at 
1st December, 1918. Proportionate advance to pieceworkers. 

Rubber. — Existing weekly time-rates allowed for 47-hour week. 
No reduction in piece-rates. No increase to be made in present 
basis of calculation for output bonus. This to include men 
and women. 

Sawmilling. — The principle of a national minimum wage was 
agreed upon by the Council, the country being divided for the 
purpose into three groups: — (a) Large towns and ports; (b) 
small towns; (c) country districts. The Council could not 
agree as to the minimum hourly rates for each group and the 
question was submitted to the Court of Arbitration. In June 
the Court of Arbitration awarded as follows: — (a) Large 
towns and ports — machinists is. 66.., laborers is. 3d.; (b) small 
towns — machinists is. 4d., laborers is. 2d.; (c) country dis- 
tricts — machinists is. 3d., laborers is. 

Vehicle Building. — An agreement was reached in January, 1919, 
providing for a national minimum wage ranging from is. 5d. 
to is. 7d. per hour for skilled workers, and from is. id. to 
is. 3d. per hour for lesser skilled workers and laborers. 

Waterworks Undertakings. — Agreement reached on overtime 
rates, providing that payment for overtime shall not run until 
after 47 hours for the day men or after 48 hours for the shift 
men have been worked or otherwise accounted for by sickness 
covered by medical certificate or by the employer's permission 
or instruction to be absent ; provided that where a workman is 
insured under the National Insurance Acts, such certificate 
shall be obtained from the man's panel doctor, or where the 
employing authority has been excepted from the Acts under 
any approved scheme for sickness benefit, such certificate shall 



JOINT STANDING INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS 361 

be obtained from the medical practitioner provided for by the 
regulations made by the employing authority. That time and 
a quarter shall be paid for the first two hours and time and a 
half afterwards; that time and a half shall be paid for all 
Sunday work, reckoned according to local practice; the fore- 
going to be without prejudice to higher rates where prevailing 
at the present time. That where a man is called upon to start 
work before the usual time or he is recalled after having left 
work, he shall be paid time and a half for each hour worked. 
That for the purpose of these resolutions the recognized na- 
tional holidays be placed upon the same footing as Sundays. 
Wool (and Allied) Textiles. — Wages to be settled locally by 
District Councils. Some District Councils have already 
reached agreement. 

II. — Hours 

Asbestos. — Agreed that 48-hour week be established. Shift sys- 
tem under consideration. 

Bobbins. — Normal working week of 48 hours, without reduction 
of weekly pay of time or day workers, and with proportionate 
adjustment in piecework wages, established by award of Court 
of Arbitration in May, 1919. 

Bread Baking. — The Government Committee of Inquiry into 
Night Baking held its first sitting for the hearing of evidence 
on 1st May, and sat for 15 days, hearing over 50 witnesses. 
Certain visits have also been paid to bakeries. A report (Cmd. 
246) has been published. 

China Clay. — Agreement reached fixing 42-hour week, without 
reduction of wages. 

Elastic Webbing. — Agreed that 48-hour week be established from 
7th April, 1919. 

Electrical Contracting. — Provision made for 47-hour working 
week, with one break of 45 minutes' duration in the ordinary 
full working day. 

Furniture. — In accordance with a general agreement reached by 
the Council a 47-hour week has been established in many 
centers. 

Gold, Silver, Etc. — Agreed upon standard week of 47 hours, with- 
out reduction of wages. 



362 MASTERS AND MEN 

Hosiery (English). — Agreed that 48-hour week be established, 
without reduction of wages. 

Hosiery (Scottish). — Agreed that 48-hour week be established, 
without reduction of wages. 

Leather Goods. — Agreed that 48-hour week be established. 

Local Authorities' Non-Trading Services (Manual Workers) 
(England and Wales). — Agreement arrived at, providing that 
the working week for day-men or women (manual workers) in 
non-trading departments shall be not more than 47 hours, ex- 
clusive of meal times; that any change in hours implied by 
this resolution shall not entail any loss of pay; that the ques- 
tion of a one or two-break day be left for local settlement; 
that in no case where a smaller number of hours are worked 
shall that number be increased. Further, that there shall be a 
minimum of 12 days' holiday, including Christmas Day, Good 
Friday where that is recognized as a general holiday, and pro- 
claimed national holidays, with pay, per annum, to be arranged 
by local agreement, but included in the 12 days there shall be 
a period of not less than six consecutive days, provided that 
the holiday shall not be claimed as a matter of right until after 
such period of service as may be agreed upon locally, and 
that if more advantageous terms exist no reduction shall be 
made. 

Matches. — Working hours reduced to 47 per week; no reduction 
of rates. All Sunday work to be considered as outside the 
47-hour week. 

Packing Case Making. — 47-hour week adopted. 

Sawmilling. — National 47-hour week adopted, without reduction 
in wages. 

Silk. — 49-hour working week adopted for 3 months as an experi- 
ment. 

Vehicle Building. — 47-hour week adopted, without reduction of 
wages. 

Waterworks Undertakings. — Agreement arrived at, providing 
that the week of day workers shall consist of 47 hours (exclu- 
sive of meal times), except where fewer hours are now 
worked; that where the adoption of 47 hours entails a reduc- 
tion in the number of hours worked there shall be no reduction 
in wages ; that all hours worked above 47 shall be regarded as 
overtime; and that the question of a one or two-break day be 



JOINT STANDING INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS 363 

left for local settlement. Agreement further provides that for 
shift workers (that is, those engaged in continuous work) 
the week shall consist of not more than six eight-hour shifts 
(inclusive of meal times) ; that if the working week now con- 
sists of seven shifts or six shifts, as the case may be, the total 
weekly wages, exclusive of overtime pay, shall be divided re- 
spectively by seven or six, and thus shall the daily or shift 
rate be determined; this rate shall be paid per shift, and all 
time worked beyond the six shifts of eight hours shall be re- 
garded as overtime. 
Wool (and Allied) Textiles. — 48-hour week adopted. Details of 
arrangement left to District Councils. 



III. — Disputes and Conciliation 

Several Councils have devised machinery for dealing with dis- 
putes and for undertaking conciliation duties. The principle 
adopted in some cases is that such questions should be dealt with 
by Shop or Works Committees or by District Councils where pos- 
sible, the Council confining itself to questions affecting the whole 
industry. Some Councils (e.g., Heavy Chemicals and Road Trans- 
port) have appointed Traveling Arbitration Panels, and the Wool 
(and Allied) Textile Council has established an Arbitration Panel. 
The Furniture Council has formed a National Conciliation Board. 
The Board has held five meetings, and has been successful in set- 
tling several disputes referred to it. It has power, in the event 
of disagreement, to appoint an independent arbitrator. 

The Councils have recently been invited to express their views 
with regard to undertaking conciliation where one or both parties 
to the dispute are not represented on the Council; and in the 
majority of cases the Councils have readily agreed to undertake 
these duties when requested to do so. 

IV. — Working Conditions 

Relaxation of War-Time Regulations. — The Pottery Council 
has been asked to advise the Home Office as to the date when 
the relaxation of the war-time Pottery Regulations should 
cease. 



364 MASTERS AND MEN 

Safety Appliances. — The Building, Furniture, and Sawmilling 
Councils have decided to co-operate in advising the Home 
Office as to the protection required on woodcutting machinery. 

Welfare Committees have been formed by the Building and 
China Clay Councils. 

Improving Factory Conditions. — The Home Office has been in 
touch with the following Councils with a view to improving 
factory conditions: 

Furniture; Leather Goods; Packing Case Making; Paint, 
Color, and Varnish; Pottery; Silk. 

V. — Apprenticeship 

The following Councils, among others, have taken action with 
regard to interrupted apprenticeship and juvenile education : 

Bobbins. — A scheme similar to that under consideration by the 
Pottery Council (see below) is approaching completion. 

Building. — The Education and Apprenticeship Committee has 
drawn up a scheme for the entry and training of all appren- 
tices and recruits for the Building Industry. This has been 
approved by the Council. 

Electrical Contracting. — A Sub-Committee has drawn up a 
scheme of apprenticeship in the industry. 

Pottery; Vehicle Building. — The question of regulating the 
entry of apprentices into the industry, and the provision of 
proper training is engaging the attention of a Committee. A 
scheme providing for the re-entry of apprentices returning 
from war service has been approved. 

Wool (and Allied) Textiles. — A Sub-Committee has been ap- 
pointed. 

VI. — Education 

Education Committees have been set up by the following 
Councils : 

Building. Pottery. 

China Clay. Silk. 

Furniture. Vehicle Building. 



JOINT STANDING INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS 365 

These Commitees have been in close touch with the Board of 
Education and Local Educational Authorities, and have discussed 
such questions as Apprenticeship, Continuation, and Technical 
Schools, etc. 

Liaison Officers have been appointed by the Board of Education 
to act in an advisory capacity on most of the Joint Industrial 
Councils. 

VII. — Statistics and Research 

Building. — The Council has appointed a Committee to consider 
the question of Scientific Management and Reduction of Costs, 
with a view to enabling the Building Industry to render the 
most efficient service possible. This Committee has held sev- 
eral meetings and has appointed two Sub-Committees to deal 
respectively with questions of improving production and ques- 
tions of the distribution of the product. 

Pottery. — A Statistical and Inquiries Committee has been ap- 
pointed to inquire into the general problems of the industry. 
This Committee has appointed a Sub-Committee to get infor- 
mation on wages and making prices, also on the average per- 
centage of profits on turnover. 

Vehicle Building. — A Committee has been set up. 



VIII. — Organization, Propaganda, and Publicity 

(a) Organization. — Action for improving the organization of 
employers and workpeople has been taken by the following' 
Councils : 

Coir Mat and Matting. 
Leather Goods. Rubber. 

Pottery. Tin Mining. 

Electrical Contracting. — The Council has agreed that one of its 
objects should be the elimination of the unorganized employer and 
employee. 

Pottery. — The Council has passed a resolution to the effect that 
employers be requested to grant facilities to Trade Unions to go 



366 MASTERS AND MEN 

on to works for propaganda purposes and for enrollment at meal- 
times, provided that no interference with the carrying on of the 
operatives' duties is caused. 

(b) Propaganda and Publicity. — Most of the Councils have 
from time to time issued reports to the Press. 

Coir Mat and Matting. — The Council has issued and circulated 
a leaflet giving a short account of the work and aims of the 
Council. 

Waterworks Undertakings. — The Council has issued a leaflet 
giving the constitution and functions of the Council, a list of the 
members and officers of the Council, and the resolutions on maxi- 
mum hours of work and overtime rates adopted by the Council. 



IX. — Relations with the Overseas Trade Department of 
the Board of Trade 

Matches. — This Council has been requested by this Department 
to supply information as to: 

(a) The encouragement of study and research with a view 

to the improvement and perfection of the quality of 
the product, and of machinery and methods for eco- 
nomical manufacture in all branches of the industry. 

(b) The preparation and consideration of statistics and re- 

ports relating to the industry throughout the world, and 
the effect on the industry of Customs and Excise 
duties. 

The question of setting up Commercial Sub-Committees, charged 
with the special work of dealing with matters in which the Board 
of Trade is concerned, is receiving the consideration of several 
Councils. In certain cases Commercial Sub-Committees are in 
process of formation. In others the matter is delegated to a Gen- 
eral Purposes or other Standing Committee. Liaison Officers be- 
tween the Board of Trade and the Councils have been appointed. 

In addition, most Councils directly affected by the question of 
Import Restrictions have appointed deputations to state their re- 
quirements to the Board of Trade Import Restrictions Committee. 



JOINT STANDING INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS 367 



X. — District Joint Industrial Councils 

District Joint Industrial Councils have been formed or are in 
process of formation by the National Joint Industrial Councils for 
the following Industries: 



Bread Baking. 

Coir Mat and Matting. 

Elastic Webbing. 

Electrical Contracting. 

Electricity Supply. 

Furniture. 

Gas. 

Gold, Silver, etc. 

Heavy Chemicals. 

Hosiery (Scottish). 



Local Authorities' Non- 
Trading Services (Man- 
ual Workers). 

Matches. 

Paint, Color, and Varnish. 

Road Transport. 

Rubber. 

Sawmilling. 

Waterworks Undertakings. 

Wool (and Allied) Textiles. 

Woollen and Worsted 
(Scottish). 



Most of the other Councils have the question of the formation 
of District Councils under consideration. In some industries Dis- 
trict Councils are regarded as unnecessary. 

XI. — Works Committees 

Works Committees have been or are being set up under the 
auspices of the respective Joint Industrial Councils for the follow- 
ing Industries: 



Bobbins. 

China Clay. 

Coir Mat and Matting. 

Hosiery (Scottish). 

Matches. 



Pottery. 
Rubber. 
Tin Mining. 
Woollen and 
(Scottish). 



Worsted 



Several other Councils are at present considering the question 
of the formation of Works Committees. 



368 MASTERS AND MEN 

PROGRESS OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT 
INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS 

Showing Estimated Numbers of Workpeople in Each Industry 

Number Estimated No. of 

of Date set up Workpeople 
Council Industry Employed in the 

1918 Industry 

1 Jan. 11 ...Pottery 64,000 

2 May 29 ..Building 553,000 

3 July 16 . . . Rubber Manufacturing 58,000 

4 July 20 . . . Gold and Silver, etc 30,000 

5 July 23 . . . Match Manufacturing 5,500 

6 July 25 . . . Silk 33,ooo 

7 July 31 ...Furniture 85,000 

8 Aug. 16 . . Heavy Chemicals 30,000 

9 Sept. 18 . . Bread Baking, etc 99,000 

10 Sept. 18 . . Paint, Color, and Varnish 19,000 

1 1 Sept. 23 . . Vehicle Building 28,000 

12 Oct. 1 China Clay 9,000 

13 Oct. 10 ...Hosiery (English) 86,000 

14 Oct. 21 . . . Metallic Bedsteads 8,000 

15 Oct. 22 ...Bobbin and Shuttle 4>50O 

16 Oct. 23 . . . Made-up Leather Goods 42,000 

17 Nov. 5 ...Woollen and Worsted (Scottish) Included in Wool 

(and Allied) 
Textile 

18 Nov. 6 . . . Hosiery (Scottish) „ Included in 

"; Hosiery (English) 

19 Nov. 21 . . Saw-milling 74,000 

1919 

20 Jan. 8 Wall-paper Making 3,000 

21 Jan. 15 . . . Wool (and Allied) Textile 298,000 

22 Jan. 17 . . . Tin Mining 6,000 

23 Jan. 22 . . . Electrical Contracting 6,000 

24 Jan. 24 . . . Packing-Case Making 24,000 

25 Mar. 5 . . . Elastic Webbing, etc 4,000 

26 Mar. 7 . . . Welsh Plate and Sheet 25,000 

27 Mar. 11 . . Road Transport 152,000 

28 Mar. 12 . . Asbestos Manufacturing 3,000 

29 Mar. 20 . . Coir Mat and Matting 3,000 

30 Apr. 3 Waterworks Undertakings 17,000 

31 Apr. 11 ...Local Authorities' Non-Trading 

Services (Manual Workers).. 60,000 

32 Apr. 30 . . . Gas Undertakings 94,000 

33 May 1 ... Electricity Supply 29,000 

34 May 8 ... Heating and Domestic Engineering 62,500 
35 , May 13 . . Spelter 3,000 

36 May 22 . . Flour Milling 25,000 

37 May 27 ..Boot and Shoe Manufacture 160,000 

38 June 24 . . Iron and Steel Wire Manufacture 34,000 

39 June 25 . . Music Trades 5,500 

,40 July 1 Printing 191,500 

41 July 9 Needles, Fish Hooks, and Fishing 

Tackle 5,000 

Total 2,438,500 



JOINT STANDING INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS 369 



(Note by the Author) 

The British Government announced at the beginning of 1920 
that 51 Joint Industrial Councils (Whitleys) had been set up. 
These represent about 3,200,000 workers. The British lean back 
on precedent and eye such new machinery as that of the Whitleys 
with a Luddite suspicion. Industrial dealings are meshed in a 
multiple technique of agreements and grades and rates. British 
industry has a vast inherited network of collective agreements, 
boards and joint committees of voluntary conciliation and arbi- 
tration. By 1910 there were 1,696 collective agreements, covering 
wages and hours, conditions of work, and interference with man- 
agement. By 1913, there were 325 permanent Boards of Con- 
ciliation. Collective bargaining, then, had through the last gen- 
eration created its own machinery of diplomacy. Back of it lay 
the threat of strike. Ahead of it rose the goal of legislative 
enactment. 

The Whitleys superimposed themselves upon this hereditary 
intricate scheme. Their reception was mixed. They are serving 
a purpose in establishing wages and hours. " A case — a very real 
case — can be made out for them in the matter of wages and 
hours," said J. J. Mallon (in November, 1919). " But," he added, 
"the Government Bulletin, describing their work, is all but bare 
of reference to any functions they fulfil in the training of workers 
for participation in management." 

Three Whitley Councils have been formed on which the Gov- 
ernment as employer is represented. This marks the emergence 
of the application of the Whitley Scheme in the non-industrial 
and professional groups. The Admiralty Council and the Office 
of Works Council have held their first meetings. The Civil 
Service Council has met several times. 

The Webbs' revised History of Trade Unionism appeared 
in the spring of 1920. In it they say: 

"After two years propagandist effort, it seems as if the principal 
industries, such as agriculture, transport, mining, cotton, engineering, 
or shipbuilding, are unlikely to adopt the Whitley Scheme. The Gov- 
ernment found itself constrained, after an obstinate resistance by the 
heads of nearly all the departments, to institute the Councils through- 
out the public service. We venture on the prediction that some such 



370 MASTERS AND MEN 

scherrfe will commend itself in all nationalized or municipalized indus- 
tries and services, including such as may be effectively 'controlled* 
by the Government, though remaining nominally the property of the 
private Capitalist — possibly also in the Co-operative Movement; but 
that it is not likely to find favor either in the well organized indus- 
tries (for which alone it was devised) or in those in which there are 
Trade Boards legally determining wages, etc., or, indeed, permanently 
in any others conducted under the system of capitalist profit-making." 

If the Whitley s survive, they will demand an all-inclusive body, 
to tie together their activities. They will demand some such body 
as the half-realized National Industrial Council. 

The relationship of manual labor to the State will not be deter- 
mined by a vague group called "the public." The public must 
be analyzed into its various groups of doctor, teacher, technician, 
manager, miner, conductor. What Felix Adler calls the "lateral 
pressure " of these groups on the warring member inside the 
social organism will be of more potency than the pressure of a 
mass called " the public," exercised from above. The British 
railway strike was settled by the pressure of the great trade 
unions (represented by 14 men) upon Lloyd George and the 
railwaymen. 

Whitleys and National Industrial Councils will only avail as 
they become new institutions and give constitutional representa- 
tion and expression to the working groups inside the State. 



SECTION THREE 

THE WORKERS 

CHAPTER I 

MEMORANDUM ON THE CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES 
FOR LABOR UNREST 

Presented by the Trade Union Representatives on the Joint 
Committee Appointed at the National Industrial Con- 
ference, Held at the Central Hall, London, on Febru- 
ary 27th, 19 19 

I. — The Causes of Unrest 

No one can doubt the existence in the United Kingdom at the 
present time of the most widespread and deep-seated unrest that 
has ever been known in this country. The causes of this unrest 
do not admit of any simple and comprehensive explanation. They 
are various and diverse and different causes take the first place 
in different districts and among different groups of workers. The 
main outlines are, however, sufficiently distinct to admit of certain 
broad and general conclusions, and this memorandum is an attempt 
to describe some of the most important causes so far as they relate 
to economic conditions. No attempt will be made to deal with 
causes of a political character, although it is impossible to separate 
these completely from economic causes. Thus, the representation 
of Labor in Parliament not only has a political aspect, but also 
provides, under favorable conditions, the best possible safeguard 
for a constitutional ventilation of economic grievances, and the 
under-representation of Labor in the present House of Commons 
must therefore be classed, to this extent, among the economic fac- 
tors, as well as among the political factors, in unrest. It must be 
remembered that throughout the war the workers have been led 
to expect that the conclusion of hostilities would be followed by a 
profound revolution in the economic structure of society. Not 
only social theorists, but also the most prominent spokesmen of the 

37i 



372 THE WORKERS 

Government, and not a few employers, have constantly told the 
workers that we should never revert to the old conditions of in- 
dustry and that an altogether higher standard of life and an alto- 
gether superior status for the worker in industry would be secured 
as soon as the immediate burden of hostilities was removed. The 
Prime Minister himself has urged an official deputation from the 
Labor Party to be audacious, and the promises of drastic industrial 
change made by the Government are too numerous to chronicle. 
The Prime Minister's own words to the Labor Party Deputation 
are worth quoting. He said: 

" I am not afraid of the audacity of these proposals. I 
believe the settlement after the war will succeed in proportion 
to its audacity. . . . Therefore, what I should be looking 
forward to, I am certain, if I could have presumed to have 
been the adviser of the working classes, would be this: I 
should say to them audacity is the thing for you. Think out 
new ways; think out new methods; think out even new ways 
of dealing with old problems. Don't always be thinking of 
getting back to where you were before the war; get a really 
new world." 

In view of the attitude now adopted by the Government in regard 
to industrial reconstruction, these words of the Prime Minister 
must be regarded as a material cause of Labor unrest. 

j. — Lack of Policy 

At the present moment the workers find themselves face to face 
with disappointment. There is also no sign that any comprehen- 
sive policy has been prepared, or even contemplated, by the Gov- 
ernment or by the Employers, with a view to bringing about any 
drastic change in industry. Everywhere the workers find either 
the determination to revert as soon as possible to pre-war condi- 
tions in the operation of commerce and manufacture, or, where the 
question of reverting to pre-war conditions does not arise or con- 
cerns primarily Labor, they find that few, if any, preparations have 
been made for the introduction of real changes. The lack of any 
comprehensive industrial or economic policy on the part of the 
Government or the employers must therefore be regarded as one 
of the principal factors in the present Labor unrest. 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 373 



2, — The Control of Industry 

With increasing vehemence Labor is challenging the whole 
structure of capitalist industry as it now exists. It is no longer 
willing to acquiesce in a system under which industry is conducted 
for the benefit of the few. It demands a system of industrial con- 
trol which shall be truly democratic in character. This is seen on 
the one hand in the demand for public ownership of vital indus- 
tries and services and public control of services not nationalized 
which threaten the public with the danger of monopoly or exploita- 
tion. It is also seen in the increasing demand of the workers in 
all industries for a real share in industrial control, a demand 
which the Whitley scheme, in so far as it has been adopted, has 
done little or nothing to satisfy. This demand is more articulate 
in some industries than others. It is seen clearly in the national 
programs of the railwaymen and of the miners; and it is less 
clearly formulated by the workers in many other industries. The 
workers are no longer prepared to acquiesce in a system in which 
their labor is bought and sold as a commodity in the Labor market. 
They are beginning to assert that they have a human right to an 
equal and democratic partnership in industry; that they must be 
treated in future not as " hands " or part of the factory equip- 
ment, but as human beings with a right to use their abilities by 
hand and brain in the service not of the few but of the whole 
community. 

The extent to which workers are challenging the whole system 
of industrial organization is very much greater to-day than ever 
before, and unrest proceeds not only from more immediate and 
special grievances but also, to an increasing extent, from a desire 
to substitute a democratic system of public ownership and produc- 
tion for use with an increasing element of control by the organized 
workers themselves for the existing capitalist organization of 
industry. 

j. — High Prices 

Among the more immediate and special causes of industrial 
unrest the high prices prevailing for commodities of common con- 
sumption take a prominent place. High prices in themselves cause 
industrial unrest since the attempt is seldom, if ever, made to 



374 THE WORKERS 

readjust wages to a higher cost of living until the workers them- 
selves strongly press their demands. The fact that the onus of 
securing concessions which are necessary even to maintain Labor 
in its present position is always thrown upon the workers, and 
that strong resistance is practically always offered by the em- 
ployers to such readjustments is a standing provocation to unrest, 
and has been a very material factor during the time of increasing 
prices through which we have been passing. Moreover, the 
workers are convinced that the high prices which have prevailed 
have not been unavoidable or purely due to natural causes. From 
the very beginning of the war period the Labor Movement has 
pressed upon the Government the adoption of measures designed 
to keep down the cost of living, and although control over private 
industry has been gradually extended, it has, in most cases, not 
been sufficiently thorough or has been instituted far too late to 
check materially the rising prices, and certainly too late to prevent 
the amassing of huge fortunes at the public expense. The system 
of control which has operated during the war has meant, in the 
majority of cases, the fixing of prices at a level which will give 
what is regarded as a reasonable margin of profit to the least 
efficient concern, and this has meant, in case after case, the fixing 
of prices which leave an entirely unnecessary balance of profit to 
the more fortunately situated or more efficient establishments. In 
these circumstances, unrest arises and the workers are strongly 
convinced that the only way of keeping down prices is by taking 
production and distribution into the hands of the public itself so 
that the price can be fixed at such a level as to be fair in the 
aggregate and so that gains and losses can be distributed over the 
whole supply of each product. The fact then that control by the 
State has usually been instituted too late, and the further fact that, 
even when it has been put into operation, it has not had the effect 
of reducing prices because the motive of private profit has still 
been preserved, must be regarded as a most potent factor in aggra- 
vating unrest and confirming working class suspicions of wide- 
spread profiteering. 

4. — Profiteering 

The universal opinion among the working classes that profiteer- 
ing has taken place during the war on an unprecedented scale 
must also be reckoned as one of the most important causes of 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 375 

unrest. It is, of course, impossible to produce an accurate state- 
ment of the extent and character of this profiteering, but an indi- 
cation is given in the inclosures of the type of fact reported in 
the newspapers which has been a powerful influence in convincing 
the public that widespread profiteering is prevalent. (See inclo- 
sures appended.) Indications have pointed to the fact that large 
fortunes have been amassed as a result of the war by many sec- 
tions among the employing and financial classes. The following 
indications are those which have principally led to the impression 
that extensive profiteering has been prevalent : 

a. The reports in the newspapers of dividends, distribution of 

bonus shares, distribution of dividends higher than pre- 
war dividends after payment of excess profits duty, and 
other reports showing that the prosperity of well-known 
firms is greater than ever before as a result of the war. 

b. The impression that large profits beyond those actually de- 

clared in the form of dividends or bonus shares have been 
accumulated by one or another of the following methods: 
The placing of exceptionally large sums to the reserve be- 
yond the increase in depreciation necessitated by war 
conditions. 
The equipment, by grant or out of excess profits at the 
public expense, of new factories, etc., or the re-equipment 
of old ones, which will be in a position to earn high 
profits after the war. 

c. The impression that the excess profits tax has operated not 

so as to reduce the total amount of profit obtained by the 
large concerns which have been in a position to secure 
almost what prices they chose to ask for their commodi- 
ties, but to increase prices and thereby maintain profits at 
the same height as they would have reached if there had 
been no excess profits taxation. 

d. The constant references in Government reports and in the 

newspapers, giving accounts of the progress of combina- 
tion among firms which have led to the impression that 
" vested interests " are becoming more powerful in the com- 
munity than ever, and that there is a serious danger of a 
great extension of private monopolies prejudicial to the 
public, and that the Government is steadily fostering com- 



376 THE WORKERS 

bination among capitalists without adequate safeguards for 
the public interest. 
e. The fact that huge combinations of capitalists have been 
formed during the war for the express purpose of influenc- 
ing the Government, and the impression that these combina- 
tions are listened to with far more attention by Government 
Departments, than the representations made by Labor. 

This list by no means exhausts the causes which have led the 
workers to believe that widespread profiteering exists, but it would 
be impossible to carry the matter further without entering into 
considerable detail. It need only be said that profiteering in articles 
of working class consumption, such as food, naturally produces a 
more immediate and profound impression in working class circles 
than profiteering which, although it may be even more extensive, 
is not equally apparent to the ordinary man or woman. The work 
of the Ministry of Food and of the Consumers' Council has done 
something to diminish the suspicion among the workers of food 
profiteering, but this suspicion is rapidly reviving as a beginning 
is made of the removal of food control. 

5. — Government Policy in Relation to Industry 

The actions of the Government in relation to industry since the 
general election have deepened the working class impression that 
profiteering is prevalent. The sale of national ships, shipyards, 
and factories is strongly resented by Labor, especially as this has 
taken place at a moment when the ships might have been made of 
the greatest use, in national hands, both in relieving the necessities 
of the world and in preventing the creation of powerful shipping 
monopolies. The shipyards might have been used to increase and 
develop a national mercantile marine, and the factories, as well as 
the shipyards, might have been turned to the task of useful peace- 
time production, and might have been made a powerful factor for 
the prevention of unemployment, both during the period of disloca- 
tion and permanently. The words used by the Minister of Labor 
at the Industrial Conference on February 27th have intensified 
Labor's misgivings. Sir Robert Home said : 

" The consideration which ultimately weighed with the Gov- 
ernment was that the only chance of expediting matters at 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 377 

the present time was to restore confidence in private enter- 
prise. ... If the Government was regarded as a competitor 
in the industries which private enterprise was at present run- 
ning they would never get proper work started again at all." 

This is by no means the view of Labor, which holds strongly 
that the development of national resources under public ownership 
is the most urgent need of industry at the present time. The 
eagerness of the Government to sell the national property and its 
expressed determination to compete in no way with private inter- 
ests in the task of production, even on such commodities as tele- 
phones which are required by the Government itself in large num- 
bers, and the hasty abandoning of national control over industry, 
without any adequate safeguards for the future protection of the 
consumer, have led the workers to the view that the Government's 
first concern is the restriction of public ownership and the restora- 
tion, at all costs, of the system of production for private profit. 
Moreover, the refusal of the Government to come to any decision 
on the question of mine and railway nationalization, despite defi- 
nite promises made during the general election and although the 
solution of this question is obviously vital to the problem of 
industrial reconstruction as a whole, seems to show that no con- 
structive industrial policy can be expected. Thus, disillusionment 
and fear of exploitation in the future on an unprecedented scale 
has made the workers think that their only remedy lies in taking 
matters into their own hands. 

6. — Unemployment 

The prevention of unemployment and provision against unem- 
ployment should have been one of the first thoughts of the Gov- 
ernment as soon as the question of industrial reorganization began 
to be considered. The workers fully understood that steps were 
being taken to bring into immediate operation upon the conclusion 
of hostilities a permanent scheme both for the prevention of unem- 
ployment wherever possible and for the maintenance of the un- 
employed where this could not be done. They now find that no 
permanent provision has been made, and that the Government 
actually proposes to withdraw the temporary provision for the 
unemployed before instituting any permanent system of prevention 
and maintenance. The reduction of the unemployment donation 



378 THE WORKERS 

before a comprehensive and permanent scheme of prevention and 
provision has been brought into operation, will have the effect 
of extending and increasing unrest. Moreover, the administration 
of the unemployment donation has given considerable cause for 
dissatisfaction, especially in the case of women, who are being 
compelled in case after case to take jobs in sweated industries 
practically at pre-war rates of wages. 

We are of the opinion that the unequal distribution of wealth 
which prior to the war kept the purchasing power of the ma- 
jority of the wage earners at a low level, constituted a primary 
cause of unemployment. During the Labor unrest debate in the 
House of Commons, February, 1912, the Parliamentary Secretary 
to the Board of Trade stated that the department had particulars 
of wages paid to 7,300,000 workpeople, and further informed the 
House that 60 per cent of the wage earners for whom they had 
particulars were receiving less than 30s. per week. From the Land 
Inquiry Committee Report, published in 1913, we learn that about 
60 per cent of the ordinary adult agricultural laborers received 
less than 18s. per week, a substantial percentage being in receipt 
of less than 15s. per week. 

In 1911 the Government appointed a Royal Commission to inves- 
tigate the cause of a dispute affecting railway employees. The 
union representatives submitted a statement showing the rates of 
wages for railway war workers in 1906, as follows: 

Per Cent of Total 
No. Receiving £ 1 per week or less Number Employed 

England and Wales 81,300 36.7 

Scotland 12,960 45.2 

Ireland 6,650 74.5 

Showing over 100,000 workers employed in an industry not 
affected by foreign competition not exceeding £1 per week. 

Sir G. S. Barnes, Second Secretary, Board of Trade, giving 
evidence before a Select Committee of the House of Commons in 
1913, supplied the following particulars of wages paid to women 
workers. 

In the Sugar Confectionery trades 40.5 per cent were receiving 
less than 10s. per week, with an average wage of us. 9d. Food 
preserving 44.4, with an average of 10s. nd. The women employed 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 379 

in the hollow-ware trade to the number of 700 have been on strike 
to obtain a minimum wage of 10s. for a week of 54 hours. 

In the calendering and machine ironing trade, of the women 
over 18 years of age working full time, 32 per cent earned under 
ios., and the average was us. 4d. for a 60-hour week. 

The above particulars of wages paid covering Railway Workers, 
Agricultural Laborers, and a large percentage of women workers 
indicate that a very large body of wage earners have received a 
rate of wages limiting their power of consumption to such an 
extent as seriously to limit the effective demand for all the essen- 
tials of life, and as a consequence unemployment has been created 
by under consumption. 

7. — Wages and Earnings 

The termination of hostilities caused a sudden reduction in the 
earnings, though not in the wage rates, of huge classes of work- 
ers, without any corresponding decrease in the cost of living. 
This has, no doubt, to some extent intensified the unrest, but wage 
grievances are not, at the present time, responsible for more than 
a fraction of it. At the same time there are two aspects of the 
wages problem in connection with which the uncertainty of the 
present position is already causing serious unrest. 

I. Most classes of workers have put forward demands for wage 
increases and the incorporation in wages of war advances, 
with a view not merely to maintaining their pre-war posi- 
tion in relation to the increased cost of living, but to im- 
proving their economic position. Failure to satisfy the 
universal demand of the workers for a higher standard of 
life will undoubtedly be followed by widespread unrest. 
This applies not only to the highly organized, but also to 
the less organized groups of workers. It is the universal 
opinion among the workers that every worker, no matter 
what the trade or occupation with which he or she is con- 
nected, is entitled to a reasonable minimum standard of 
life, and that the existing slow and cumbrous methods of 
dealing with this problem by the gradual and piece-meal 
extension of the Trade Boards Act, in face of persistent 
obstruction and opposition, are entirely inadequate. 



380 THE WORKERS 

2. The wages (Temporary Regulation) Act is due to expire 
in May. Unless steps are taken to renew it until perma- 
nent provision has been made for dealing with wage rates 
in the future, unrest will be gravely increased. 

8. — Hours of Labor 

Probably the most important immediate cause of unrest is the 
question of hours of labor. Hours have been singularly little 
changed for a very long time past, and before the war demands 
were being made in many industries for a substantial reduction. 
The workers are now urgently demanding a higher standard of 
leisure, to be achieved by a reduction in working hours and the 
abolition of systematic overtime. If matters are allowed to drift, 
these demands will lead to serious unrest and possibly dislocation 
in practically every industry in the country. There is a strong 
opinion among the workers that the hours problem should be dealt 
with as a whole with a view to the formulation of some maximum 
limit applicable to all workers. Otherwise hours of labor will take 
a prominent place in encouraging unrest for a long time to come. 

p. — Housing 

Side by side with the demand for a higher standard of life and 
leisure comes the demand for more and better housing accommo- 
dation. Overcrowding has been an especially serious factor in the 
creation of unrest in many centers during the war period, and 
attention was drawn to this point in the reports on Industrial 
Unrest prepared for the Government two years ago. . . . The 
rapidly growing shortage of houses at the present time, and the 
failure to build new houses, have done a great deal to undermine 
working class confidence, and must now rank among the principal 
factors of unrest. 

jo. — Recognition of Trade Unions 

More than one dispute recently has centered around the ques- 
tion of the recognition of trade unionism. Among Government 
employees the Police Union has been refused recognition, and 
serious unrest has thereby been caused. The Railway Clerks' 
Association only secured partial recognition from the Government 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 381 

by the threat of an immediate strike, and even now serious trouble 
is being caused by the attempts of the Railway Executive Com- 
mittee and the companies to whittle down this recognition. There 
has been serious delay in applying the Whitley Committee's Report 
to any section of Government employees, and even now it has not 
been applied to the Civil Service, with the result that this class of 
workers is in a grave state of unrest. Among employees of private 
firms recognition is still by no means completely or fully established 
— a point which has been specially brought to our notice by one 
Association, that of the Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughts- 
men, which, although it includes practically all the draughtsmen 
eligible for membership, is still refused recognition. Recognition 
is still especially defective in the workshops, and it is clear that 
the failure to provide for full recognition of Trade Union Or- 
ganization in and out of the workshops is responsible for a good 
deal of unrest. 

ii. — Lack of Representative Machinery 

One reason why the existing unrest in industry lacks co-ordina- 
tion and is difficult to express in concrete terms is that there exists 
no adequate machinery capable of giving constant expression to 
the co-ordinated demands of the whole of the workers. Numerous 
Committees and Conferences have been set up and summoned by 
the Government for various industrial and economic purposes. 
These have mostly been unsatisfactory and often of an unrepre- 
sentative character. There is an urgent demand for an elective 
body fully representative of Labor to advise the Government on 
economic and industrial policy in general. The absence of such a 
body is certainly one of the causes for the rapid extension of the 
present industrial unrest and for its taking in some cases an indefi- 
nite and incoherent form. Until some such really representative 
body is brought into existence it is to be feared that unrest will 
continue to possess a disorganized and largely unco-ordinated 
character. 



12. — The Attitude of the Government and the Employers 

It is not possible to discuss the question of Labor unrest without 
drawing attention to one important factor, both as causing of 



382 THE WORKERS 

unrest and as making it take unconstitutional directions. It is 
unfortunately the fact that it has been much more difficult to get 
prompt attention to industrial grievances during the war period in 
those cases in which the workers, from patriotic motives, have 
remained at work and endeavored to act by constitutional methods 
than where they have come out on strike or threatened immediate 
and drastic action. This suicidal policy of delaying remedial 
action for grievances until the workers have decided to take mat- 
ters into their own hands is responsible for a great deal of pre- 
ventable unrest, and there is a general opinion that both employers 
and the Government would be wise to take steps to insure that in 
future, grievances, as soon as they arise and before they reach 
the point of danger, should be promptly considered and dealt with 
on sympathetic lines. 

II. — Remedies for Unrest 

To the foregoing statement we append certain general sugges- 
tions as to remedies. We shall follow, as far as possible, in our 
discussion of remedies the order of the paragraphs setting out the 
causes of unrest. 

i. — Control of Industry 

(a) A substantial beginning must be made of instituting public 
ownership of the vital industries and services in this country. 
Mines and the supply of coal, railways, docks, and other means of 
transportation, the supply of electric power, and shipping, at least 
so far as ocean-going services are concerned, should be at once 
nationalized. 

(b) Private profit should be entirely eliminated from the manu- 
facture of armaments, and the amount of nationalization necessary 
to secure this should be introduced into the engineering, shipbuild- 
ing, and kindred industries. 

(c) There should be a great extension of municipal ownership, 
and ownership by other local authorities and co-operative control 
of those services which are concerned primarily with the supplying 
of local needs. 

(d) Key industries and services should at once be publicly 
owned. 

(e) This extension of public ownership over vital industries 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 383 

should be accompanied by the granting to the organized workers 
of the greatest practicable amount of control over the conditions 
and the management of the various industries. 

2. — State Control and Prices 

(a) Where an industry producing articles of common consump- 
tion or materials necessary to industries producing articles of com- 
mon consumption cannot be at once publicly owned, State control 
over such industries should be retained. 

(b) State control has been shown to provide some check upon 
profiteering and high prices, and this is a reason why it should be 
maintained until industries pass into the stage at which they can 
be conveniently nationalized. 

(c) Many groups of capitalists at the present time are loudly 
claiming State assistance in re-establishing their industries upon 
a profit-making basis. There must be no State assistance without 
strict State control. 

j. — Profiteering 

(a) A determined attempt should be made in each industry by 
public inquiry through Royal Commissions to elicit all the facts 
with regard to war profiteering. 

(b) Organized Labor in each industry or service should have 
the right of nominating half the membership of the Commission, 
the other half being appointed by the Government to represent 
interests similar to those represented by the Government nominees 
on the Coal Commission. The Government should also, in each 
case, appoint a Chairman. This principle should be adopted not 
only in constituting these Commissions, but also in the other Com- 
mittees and Commissions proposed in this memorandum. 

(c) Such an inquiry should include not only firms directly en- 
gaged in industrial production, but also subsidiary and trading 
concerns, and that a comprehensive attempt should be made to dis- 
cover the extent and effect of combination between firms, and to 
lay bare any tendencies towards monopolistic combination which 
are at present developing in British Industry. 

(d) In view of the enormous burden of debt which has been 
accumulated as a result of the war and of the methods adopted in 
financing the war by loan rather than by direct taxation, steps 



384 THE WORKERS 

should at once be taken to remove a considerable part of this 
burden by a graduated levy on capital from which property up 
to £1,000 would be exempt. 

4. — Government Policy in Relation to Industry 

The policy of selling national factories, ships, and shipyards 
should be immediately reversed, and both the ships and the ship- 
yards and factories should be resumed by the State and operated as 
national concerns in the interest of the whole community. 

5. — Unemployment, Security, and Maintenance 

(a) We are of the opinion that a general increase in wages 
by improving the purchasing power of the workers would have a 
general and permanent effect in the direction of limiting continu- 
ous unemployment, by bringing consumption up to something more 
like equilibrium with production. 

(b) A special commission should be appointed immediately to 
investigate and report within a specified limit of time, upon the 
whole problem of unemployment in the widest sense, and the atten- 
tion of this Commission should be especially directed to the prob- 
lem of under consumption as a cause of unemployment, and the 
possibility of instituting a State bonus. 

(c) Pending the report of this Commission the Government 
should at once address itself to the task of preventing unem- 
ployment by all means within its power. 

(d) We strongly urge the immediate creation of a central au- 
thority to deal with the allocation of all Government contracts in 
such a way as to steady the volume of employment and to co- 
ordinate orders given by local authorities. This central authority 
should co-operate closely with the National Industrial Council. 

(e) A complete and comprehensive scheme of unemployment 
provision extending to all workers on a non-contributory basis 
should be instituted at the earliest possible moment, and this 
scheme should provide for adequate maintenance of those workers 
who are unemployed, and for the making up of maintenance pay 
to those workers who are under employed. All unemployed work- 
people under such a scheme would be entitled to a flat rate of 
benefit. It would, however, be desirable that there should be, in 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 385 

addition to the flat rate, a supplementary allowance for dependent 
children. 

(/) This scheme should be administered directly through the 
trade unions, the Government maintenance pay for the unemployed 
being handed over in the form of a subvention to the various trade 
unions to administer on behalf of their own members. Where in 
any case direct administration through a trade union is not ar- 
ranged, maintenance pay should be administered through the 
Employment Exchanges, but if such a system of administration is 
to carry any confidence the present organization of the Employ- 
ment Exchanges must be drastically remodeled, and the Exchanges 
must be placed under the direct control of Joint Committees equally 
representative of the employers and trade unions. 

(g) In addition to the provision made under such non-contribu- 
tory National scheme the State should assist Trade Unions to pro- 
vide an additional benefit out of their own funds by giving a 
subsidy from State funds equivalent to 50 per cent of the amount 
expended by the Union on unemployment allowances. 

(h) Until this permanent provision is brought fully into opera- 
tion it will be essential to continue, at least on the original scale, 
the temporary system of unemployment donation instituted on the 
termination of hostilities. 

(i) It is absolutely necessary to make provision for a greater 
degree of security on the part of the worker. The worker who 
is threatened with arbitrary dismissal should, in all cases, have a 
prior right of appeal to his fellow workers, and wherever dismissal 
takes place on grounds other than those of demonstrated miscon- 
duct, the worker who is dismissed should be entitled to a payment 
proportionate to his period of service with the firm. 

(/) Special provision should be made for the maintenance of 
widows with dependent children, and for the endowment of 
mothers, in order to prevent them from being forced into industry 
against the interest of society. 



6. — Wages 

(a) A higher standard of living for the whole working com- 
munity is not only desirable but immediately possible. 

(b) Every worker should be entitled by law to a reasonable 
minimum wage. 



386 THE WORKERS 

(c) Until full provisions securing this to all workers have been 
brought into actual and complete operation, the temporary system 
of regulating wages under the Wages (Temporary Regulation) 
Act should continue. 

(d) The principle of equal pay for men and women should be 
universally applied, both on grounds of justice and in order that 
there may be no degrading of conditions in any occupation through 
the introduction of female labor. 



7. — Hours of Labor 

(a) A universal reduction of hours to a maximum of eight in 
any one day, and 44 in any one week, is immediately necessary, 
subject only to such modifications in particular industries or occu- 
pations as can be clearly proved to be necessary for the efficient 
carrying on of the service. All such modifications should be 
allowed only on condition that the terms secured to the workers 
in the industries so exempted from the strict operation of an 
Eight-Hour Act should be not less favorable on the whole than 
the terms accorded to workers under the Act. 

(b) Power should at once be taken to reduce the number of 
hours worked below eight by a simple procedure, such as that of 
provisional order as soon as industry has been given time to 
readjust itself to the new conditions. 

(c) The eight hours which should be made a legal maximum 
for all workers should not prevent the workers in any trade or 
industry either from maintaining any better conditions which they 
have already secured, or from securing better conditions in the 
future. 

(d) Power should be taken in any Act regulating hours where 
a collective agreement has been arrived at between repre- 
sentative organizations securing a lower maximum of hours for 
a particular trade or occupation, to make this lower maximum 
compulsory for the whole trade, including those parts of it which 
are unorganized or unfederated. 

(e) Any measure regulating the hours of labor should also 
include provisions for the prohibition of all systematic overtime, 
and for the payment of all overtime worked at special rates. 

(/) Special rates of pay should apply also to night work, Sun- 
day, and holiday work, and night work should be abolished abso- 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 387 

lutely for women and children and, wherever possible, for all 
workers. 

(g) Steps should immediately be taken for the international 
regulation of the hours of labor, and for the inclusion of a uni- 
versal maximum in the terms of the International Charter of 
Labor. 

(h) The fact that a trade has not reached a high state of or- 
ganization should not be regarded as an excuse for long hours 
or bad conditions of employment. 

8. — Housing 

(a) The housing of the people must be regarded as a national 
responsibility, and the national resources must be utilized to the 
fullest extent in order to secure the immediate provision of enough 
houses to insure a great general improvement in housing condi- 
tions for the whole people. 

(b) If local authorities fail, under the conditions now offered 
by the State, to provide houses, the State must itself at once 
assume the responsibility of providing the houses which are neces- 
sary, or of compelling the local authorities to do so. 

(c) Far more regard must be given than in the past both to the 
conditions which are necessary for the maintenance of public 
health and to convenience and comfort of the working class house- 
hold and especially of the housewife. 

(d) Provision must be made for the fullest participation of 
working class representatives, including women, directly chosen 
by the workers, in seeing that this scheme is carried properly and 
completely into effect. 

o. — Recognition of Trade Unions 

All trade unions and federations and associations of trade unions 
recognized by the Labor Movement itself must receive full recog- 
nition both from the employers and from the State and the local 
authorities. 

io. — Creation of Representative Machinery 

Some national machinery fully representative of the employers 
and of Labor to advise the Government in relation to all issues 
affecting industry generally should be brought into being at the 



388 THE WORKERS 

earliest possible moment. This body should possess the full con- 
fidence of Labor, and should have the most democratic constitution 
that can possibly be secured. Without interfering where adequate 
machinery already exists, such an industrial council would form a 
useful medium for negotiation on questions affecting mutual rela- 
tions of employers and workers in general, and on all questions 
of general industrial and economic policy. 

II. — The Attitude of the Government and of the Employers 

(a) A drastic change in the attitude of the Government Depart- 
ments which deal with Labor is essential. 

(b) It should be regarded as the duty of any Government De- 
partment employing Labor or entering into contracts which involve 
the employment of Labor, to insure for all workers in its direct 
or indirect employment an adequate standard of life, and the best 
possible conditions of employment. 

(c) Any claim or demand put forward by a body of workers 
should be immediately attended to, whether or not a strike has 
taken place and whether or not notice of strike has been given, 
without waiting for the organized workers to demonstrate their 
determination to take action. The Government should aim at being 
beforehand with unrest by removing all legitimate grievances as 
soon as they arise. 

(d) The indefensible delay of the Ministry of Labor in setting 
up Trade Boards must come to an end, and the machinery of the 
Trade Boards Act must be put into operation at once for all the 
less organized trades and occupations. 

(e) The employer, if he desires to prevent Labor unrest, should 
regard it as part of his responsibility to secure to all the workers 
whom he employs the best possible conditions of life and the 
earliest possible removal of all grievances. 

(/) The habitual use now made by employers of machinery of 
conciliation and negotiation for the purpose of delaying the settle- 
ment of industrial demands must be discontinued. 

(g) It is essential that all machinery of negotiation should be 
capable of rapid operation, and that it should in no case be used 
for the purpose of delaying a decision, and that with a view to 
insuring that it will not be so used, all awards and agreements 
should be made retrospective to the date of the original claim. 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 389 



Conclusions 

The fundamental causes of Labor unrest are to be found rather 
in the growing determination of Labor to challenge the whole 
existing structure of capitalist industry than in any of the more 
special and smaller grievances which come to the surface at any 
particular time. 

These root causes are twofold — the breakdown of the existing 
capitalist system of industrial organization, in the sense that the 
mass of the working class is now firmly convinced that production 
for private profit is not an equitable basis on which to build, and 
that a vast extension of public ownership and democratic control 
of industry is urgently necessary. It is no longer possible for 
organized Labor to be controlled by force or compulsion of any 
kind. It has grown too strong to remain within the bounds of the 
old industrial system and its unsatisfied demand for the re-organi- 
zation of industry on democratic lines is not only the most impor- 
tant, but also a constantly growing cause of unrest. 

The second primary cause is closely linked with the first. It is 
that, desiring the creation of a new industrial system which shall 
gradually but speedily replace the old, the workers can see no indi- 
cation that either the Government or the employers have realized 
the necessity for any fundamental change, or that they are pre- 
pared even to make a beginning of industrial re-organization on 
more democratic principles. The absence of any constructive 
policy on the side of the Government or the employers, taken in 
conjunction with the fact that Labor, through the Trades Union 
Congress and the Labor Party and through the various Trade 
Union Organizations, has put forward a comprehensive economic 
and industrial program, has presented the workers with a sharp 
contrast from which they naturally draw their own deductions. 

It is clear that unless and until the Government is prepared to 
realize the need for comprehensive reconstruction on a democratic 
basis, and to formulate a constructive policy leading towards eco- 
nomic democracy, there can be at most no more than a temporary 
diminution of industrial unrest to be followed inevitably by further 
waves of constantly growing magnitude. 

The changes involved in this reconstruction must, of course, be 
gradual, but if unrest is to be prevented from assuming dangerous 



390 THE WORKERS 

forms an adequate assurance must be given immediately to the 
workers that the whole problem is being taken courageously in 
hand. It is not enough merely to tinker with particular grievances 
or to endeavor to reconstruct the old system by slight adjustments 
to meet the new demands of Labor. It is essential to question the 
whole basis on which our industry has been conducted in the past 
and to endeavor to find, in substitution for the motive of private 
gain, some other motive which will serve better as the foundation 
of a democratic system. This motive can be no other than the 
motive of public service, which at present is seldom invoked save 
when the workers threaten to stop the process of production by a 
strike. The motive of public service should be the dominant mo- 
tive throughout the whole industrial system, and the problem in 
industry at the present day is that of bringing home to every per- 
son engaged in industry the feeling that he is the servant, not of 
any particular class or person, but of the community as a whole. 
This cannot be done so long as industry continues to be conducted 
for private profit, and the widest possible extension of public own- 
ership and democratic control of industry is therefore the first 
necessary condition of the removal of industrial unrest. 

Arthur Henderson, Chairman. 

G. D. H. Cole, Secretary. 



ENCLOSURE A 

Dividends. 

Appended is a list of a few firms in various industries, showing the 
dividends declared on deferred and ordinary stocks. Those afford a 
rough measure of prosperity; no complete indication can be given 
without an exhaustive examination of the concern's finances. Thus the 
actual prosperity may be lower, if no dividends, or lower dividends, 
have been declared in previous years, or if the ordinary shares repre- 
sent a relatively small portion of the capital employed; on the other 
hand, low dividends may be coincident with very large profits, where 
these are placed to reserve, or capitalized as bonus-shares. An in- 
crease in dividend, however, pretty definitely indicates a definite in- 
crease in prosperity, though the corresponding inference cannot be 
drawn from a decrease in dividend. In the list given below an 
x denotes that the dividends are free of income-tax. 

Shipping. — See Special Table. 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 391 



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392 THE WORKERS 

Coal and Iron and Steel Companies. 

Pearson Knowles and Co., 45 per cent. (1918). 

Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Co., 15 per cent, x (1917) I2j^ per 
cent, x (1918). 

Walter Scott, 15 per cent, x (1917). 

Consett Iron Co., 40 per cent, x (1917). 

Staveley Coal and Iron Co., 15 per cent, x (1917), 12^2 per cent. 
x (1918). 

Shott's Iron Co., 35 per cent, x (191 7). 

North Lonsdale Iron and Steel Co., 25 per cent. (1917). 

Millom and Askham Hematite Iron Co., 15 per cent. (1917), 15 
per cent. (1918). 

Hadfields, Ltd., 30 per cent. (1917). 

Consett Iron Co., 40 per cent. (1918). 

Engineering (including Armaments) and Shipbuilding. 

Birmingham Small Arms Co., 20 per cent, x (1917), 20 per cent. 
(1918). 

Vickers, Maxim and Co., i6>4 per cent. (1917), 12^ per cent. (1918). 

Armstrong Whitworth and Co., 12^ per cent. (1918). 

Mather and Piatt, iy J / 2 per cent. (1917), 17^2 per cent, x (1918). 

J. I. Thorneycroft and Sons, 17^2 per cent. (1917). 

Textile. 

Bradford Dyers' Association, 17J/2 per cent. (1917), 17H per cent. 
(1918). 

J. and P. Coats (sewing cotton), 30 per cent. (1917), 30 per cent. 
(1918). 

English Sewing Cotton, 20 per cent. (1918). 

Shipping Vale Spinning Co., 15 per cent, x (1918). 

Pine Spinning Co., 20 per cent. (1918). 

Holywood Spinning Co., 20 per cent. (1918). 

Moorfield Spinning Co., 16% per cent. (1918). 

May Mill Spinning Co., 53% per cent. (1918). 

Lion Spinning Co., 35 per cent. (1918). 



ENCLOSURE B 

Bonus Shares, Etc. 

Many companies have recently capitalized reserves by issuing bonus- 
shares to the shareholders, either free, or at a price below the market 
value. In this way money that has been accumulated as reserve funds 
is distributed to the shareholders, and begins to earn dividends at 



CAUSES OF AND REMEDIES FOR UNREST 393 

the same rate as the ordinary shares. Thus Brunner Monds declared 
a dividend of 27J/2 per cent, for several years, in one year they issued 
bonus-shares, and declared only a dividend of 11 per cent, the follow- 
ing year, although the amount received by the shareholders was 
exactly the same as before. 



ENCLOSURE C 

Reserve Funds. 

Many Companies are placing increasingly large sums to their reserve 
funds, generally for the ostensible purpose of providing as much se- 
curity as possible for the uncertain times ahead. 

The General Electric Company, while declaring the same dividend 
(10 per cent, x) for 1918 as for 1917, placed £100,000 to reserve in 
1918 as against £40,000 in 1917, and carried forward £145,286, as 
against £89,786. 

In 1917 Leach's Argentine Estates placed £114,000 to reserve, as 
against £12,800 in the previous year. Instances could be indefinitely 
multiplied. 



CHAPTER II 

THE NATIONALIZATION OF MINES AND 
MINERALS BILL, 1919 

A Bill to Nationalize the Mines and Minerals of Great 
Britain and to Provide for the National Winning, Dis- 
tribution, and Sale of Coal and Other Minerals 

Whereas it is expedient that mines and minerals should be taken 
into the possession of the State. 

Be it enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and 
with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal 
and Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the 
authority of the same, as follows : 

1. (1) For the purpose of winning, distributing, selling, and 
searching for coal and other minerals, there shall be established 
by His Majesty by Warrant under the sign manual, a Mining 
Council, consisting of a President and 20 members, ten of whom 
shall be appointed by His Majesty and ten by the Association 
known as the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. 

(2) It shall be lawful for His Majesty, from time to time, to 
appoint any member of the Privy Council to be President of the 
Mining Council, under the name of the Minister of Mines, to hold 
office during His Majesty's pleasure. 

(3) The Members of the Mining Council, other than the Presi- 
dent, shall be appointed for five years, but shall be eligible for 
reappointment. Provided that His Majesty or the Association 
known as the Miners' Federation of Great Britain respectively 
shall have power to remove any person appointed by them and 
appoint some other person in his place. On a casual vacancy 
occurring by reason of the death, resignation, or otherwise of any 
of such members or otherwise, His Majesty or the Miners' Fed- 
eration of Great Britain, as the case may be, shall appoint some 
other person to fill the vacancy, who shall continue in office until 

394 



THE NATIONALIZING OF MINES 395 

the member in whose place he was appointed should have retired, 
and shall then retire. The members of the Mining Council shall 
devote the whole of their time to the business of the Mining 
Council. 

2. (i) The Minister of Mines and one of the Secretaries of the 
Mining Council (to be known as the Parliamentary Secretary and 
to be appointed by His Majesty) shall at the same time be capable 
of being elected to and of sitting in the Commons House of Par- 
liament. 

(2) The Minister of Mines shall take the oath of allegiance 
and official oath, and shall be deemed to be included in the First 
Part of the Schedule to the Promissory Oaths Act, 1868. 

(3) There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament 
to the Minister of Mines a salary at the rate of £2,000 a year, and 
to the Parliamentary Secretary a salary at the rate of £1,500 a 
year. 

(4) The Minister of Mines and the Parliamentary Secretary 
shall be responsible to Parliament for the acts of the Mining 
Council. 

3. (1) The Mining Council shall appoint a Secretary (to be 
known as the Permanent Secretary), and such assistant secre- 
taries and officers and servants as the Mining Council may, with 
the sanction of the Treasury, determine. 

(2) Subject to the provisions of Section II (2) of this Act, 
there shall be paid to the Permanent Secretary, Assistant Secre- 
taries and other officers and servants such salaries or remunera- 
tion as the Treasury shall from time to time determine. 

(3) There shall be transferred and attached to the Mining 
Council such of the persons employed under any Government De- 
partment or local authority in or about the execution of the powers 
and duties transferred by or in pursuance of this Act to the Mining 
Council as the Mining Council and the Government Department or 
local authority may with the sanction of the Treasury determine. 

(4) Notwithstanding anything in any Act, order, or regulation, 
any society of workers, all or some of whose members are wholly 
or partly employed in or about mines, or in any other manner 
employed by the Minister of Mines, or the Mining Council, or a 
District Mining Council, or Pit Council, or otherwise under this 
Act, may be registered or constitute themselves to be a Trade 
Union, and may do anything individually or in combination which 



396 THE WORKERS 

the members of a Trade Union or a Trade Union may lawfully do. 
Provided further that notwithstanding any Act, order, or regula- 
tion to the contrary, it shall be lawful for any person employed 
under this Act to participate in any civil or political action in like 
manner as if such person were not employed by His Majesty, or 
by any authority on his behalf. 

Provided, further, that no such person shall suffer dismissal or 
any deprivation of any kind as a consequence of any political or 
industrial action, not directly forbidden by the terms of his 
employment, or as a consequence of participation in a strike or 
trade dispute. 

4. (1) The Mining Council shall be a Corporation to be known 
by the name of the Mining Council and by that name shall have 
perpetual succession, and may acquire and hold land without license 
in mortmain. 

(2) The Mining Council shall have an official seal, which shall 
be officially and publicly noticed, and such seal shall be authenti- 
cated by the Mining Council or a secretary or one of the assistant 
secretaries, or some person authorized to act on their behalf. 

(3) The Mining Council may sue and be sued without further 
description under that title. 

(4) Every document purporting to be an order, license, or other 
instrument issued by the Mining Council, and to be sealed with 
their seal, authenticated in manner provided by this Act, or to be 
signed by a secretary or by one of the assistant secretaries, or any 
person authorized to act, shall be received in evidence and be 
deemed to be such order, license, or other instrument without fur- 
ther proof unless the contrary is shown. 

(5) Any person having authority in that behalf, either general 
or special, under the seal of the Mining Council may, on behalf 
of the Mining Council, give any notice or make any claim, demand, 
entry, or distress, which the Mining Council in its corporate ca- 
pacity or otherwise might give or make, and every such notice, 
claim, demand, entry, and distress shall be deemed to have been 
given and made by the Mining Council. 

(6) Every deed, instrument, bill, check, receipt, or other docu- 
mert:, made or executed for the purpose of the Mining Council 
by, to, or with the Mining Council, or any officer of the Mining 
Council, shall be exempt from any stamp duty imposed by any 
Act, past or future, except where that duty is declared by the 



THE NATIONALIZING OF MINES 39? 

document, or by some memorandum endorsed thereon, to be payable 
by some person other than the Mining Council, and except so far 
as any future Act specifically charges the duty. 

5. (1) On and after the appointed day, save as in Sub-Section 3 
of this Section, provided: 

(a) Every colliery and mine (including all mines, quarries, 

and open workings of ironstone, shale, fireclay, and lime- 
stone, and every other mine regulated under the Metal- 
liferous Mines Regulation Acts, 1872 and 1875, but not 
including mines, quarries, or open workings of minerals 
specified in the First Schedule to this Act), whether in 
actual work, or discontinued, or exhausted, or abandoned, 
and every shaft, pit, borehole, level, or inclined plane, 
whether in course of being made or driven for commenc- 
ing or opening any such colliery or mine, or otherwise, 
and all associated properties (including vessels, lighters, 
railway rolling stock, and all works, including works for 
the manufacture of by-products, in the opinion of the 
Mining Council belonging to any mine undertaking or 
connected with any colliery or mine, and every house 
belonging to the owners of any such colliery or mine, 
which, in the opinion of the Mining Council, is usually 
occupied by workmen employed at such colliery or mine), 
(all of which are herein included in the expression 
"mine ") ; and 

(b) all coal, anthracite, lignite, ironstone, shale, fireclay, lime- 

stone, or other mineral, excepting the minerals specified 
in the First Schedule to this Act, whether at present 
being worked or not worked, or connected or not con- 
nected with any mine, beneath the surface of the ground 
(all of which are herein included in the expression " min- 
erals") ; and 

(c) all rights and easements arising out of, or necessary to the 

working of any mine or the winning of any mineral, 
including all mineral wayleaves, whether air-leaves or 
water-leaves, or rights to use a shaft, or ventilation or 
drainage or other royalties, lordships, or rights in connec- 
tion therewith, whether above or below the ground (all 
of which are herein included in the expression " rights ") 



398 THE WORKERS 

shall be transferred to, vested in, and held by the Mining 
Council in their corporate capacity in perpetuity, and 
shall for all purposes be deemed to be royal mines, and 
the minerals and rights thereof respectively. 

(2) The Acts contained in the Second Schedule to this Act are 
hereby repealed. 

(3) Provided that the Mining Council may at any time before 
the appointed day give notice in writing to the owner of, or person 
interested in, any mine or minerals or rights, disclaiming, during 
the period of such disclaimer, all or part of the property in such 
mine or minerals or rights to the extent specified in the notice, and 
thereafter such mine or minerals or rights shall, until such time 
as the Mining Council shall otherwise determine, to the extent 
specified in such notice, not vest in the Mining Council as provided 
by Sub-section (1) of this section. Provided that in such case it 
shall not be lawful for any person other than the Mining Council, 
without the permission of the Mining Council, to work such mine 
or minerals in any way. Provided further that on the termination 
of such disclaimer by the Mining Council, such mine or minerals 
or rights shall, to the extent of such notice, as from such date as 
the notice may prescribe, vest in the Mining Council as if such 
notice of disclaimer had not been given. 

6. The Mining Council shall purchase the mines of Great Britain 
in them vested by this Act (other than those which are the prop- 
erty of the Crown at the time of the passing of this Act or which 
have been disclaimed in whole or in part in accordance with Sec- 
tion 5 (3) of this Act) at the price and in the manner provided 
by this Act. Provided always that the value of any rights as 
defined by Section 5 (1) (c) of this Act shall not be taken into 
account in computing such price, for all of which no compensation 
shall be paid. 

7. (1) For the purpose of assessing the purchase price of mines 
it shall be lawful for His Majesty, by warrants under the sign 
manual, to appoint ten Commissioners, to be styled the Mines Pur- 
chase Commissioners (herein called the Commissioners), of whom 
one, appointed by His Majesty, shall be Chairman. 

(2) Three of the said Commissioners shall be nominated by the 
Association known as the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, and 
three by the Association known as the Mining Association of 
Great Britain. 



THE NATIONALIZING OF MINES 399 

(3) At the expiration of twelve months from the passing of 
this Act, in the event of a majority of the Commissioners failing 
to agree as to the purchase price of a particular mine or of its 
associated properties, it shall be lawful for the Chairman himself 
to fix the purchase price of such mine, which price shall then be 
deemed to be the price fixed by the Commissioners, but, save as 
herein expressly provided, the finding of a majority of the Com- 
missioners voting on any question or as to the purchase price of 
mines shall be final and conclusive and binding on all parties. 

(4) It shall be lawful for His Majesty to remove any Commis- 
sioner for inability or misbehavior. Every order of removal shall 
state the reasons for which it is made, and no such order shall 
come into operation until it has lain before the Houses of 
Parliament for not less than thirty days while Parliament is 
sitting. 

(5) The Commissioners may appoint and employ such assessors, 
accountants, surveyors, valuers, clerks, messengers, and other per- 
sons required for the due performance of their duties as the 
Treasury on the recommendation of the Commissioners may 
sanction. 

(6) There shall be paid to the Commissioners and to each of 
the persons appointed or employed under this section such salary 
or remuneration as the Treasury may sanction; and all such 
salaries and remuneration and the expenses of the Commission 
incurred in the execution of their duties, to such amount as may 
be sanctioned by the Treasury, shall be paid out of moneys pro- 
vided by Parliament. 

8. (1) The Commissioners shall, as soon as may be after the 
passing of this Act, cause a valuation to be made of all mines 
other than those disclaimed, whether or not developed or working 
or abandoned or exhausted, in Great Britain, showing what on 
August 4th, 1914, and what at the date of the passing of this Act 
was respectively the total ascertained value of each mine and its 
associated properties and the rights, as defined by Section 5 (1) 
(c) of this Act, therein, and the total ascertained value of such 
mine and its associated properties respectively exclusive of such 
rights; and the owner of every mine and any person receiving any 
rents, interest, or profit from any mine or possessed of any rights 
therein or connected therewith, on being required by notice by 
the Commissioners, shall furnish to the Commissioners a return 



400 THE WORKERS 

containing such particulars as the Commissioners may require as 
to his property, rent, interest, profits, or rights in such mine. 

(2) The Commissioners may likewise cause any mine to be 
inspected, require the production of documents, or do any other 
thing which may, in their opinion, be necessary to fix the purchase 
price of the mine or its associated properties. 

(3) The Commissioners in making such valuation shall have 
regard to returns made under any statute imposing duties or taxes 
or other obligations in respect of mines, or minerals, or rights, and 
to any information given before or to any Commission or Govern- 
ment Department, including the Coal Industry Commission consti- 
tuted under the Coal Industry Commission Act. 1919. 

9. (1) The purchase price of mines exclusive of associated 
properties (other than mines in the possession of the Crown at 
the time of the passing of this Act shall be computed subject to 
the provisions of Sub-sections (2) and (3) of this section by ascer- 
taining the average annual number of tons of minerals actually 
raised during the five years preceding August 4th, 1914: 

Provided that as regards coal-mines in no case shall the maxi- 
mum purchase price, exclusive of associated properties, be taken 
to be more than the following: 

When 100,000 tons or less have been raised per s. d. 
annum on the average during such five pre- 
ceding years, a capital sum equal to one such 
year's output at 12 o per ton 

When more than 100,000 tons have been raised 
per annum on the average during such five 
preceding years, a capital sum equal to one 
such year's output at 10 o per ton 

(2) The Commissioners in arriving at such computation shall 
also have regard to the actual gross and net profits which have 
been made in the mine during such years or thereafter and to the 
amounts which may have been set aside from time to time for 
depreciation, renewals, or development, and to the probable dura- 
tion of the life of the mine, and to the nature and condition of 
such mine, and to the state of repairs thereof, and to the assets 
and liabilities of any mine undertaking existing at the time of 
purchase which are transferable to the Mining Council under Sec- 
tion 16 of this Act. 



THE NATIONALIZING OF MINES 401 

(3) Provided further that where a coal-mine, in the opinion of 
the Commissioners, has not been fully developed, the amount which 
would be raised under full development without any increase of 
capital expenditure shall be taken as the average annual number 
of tons raised, and the maximum purchase price in such case shall 
be taken to be a capital sum equal to the product of such number 
of tons and 12s. or 10s. per ton respectively, for the purpose of 
ascertaining the maximum value per ton under Sub-section (1) of 
this section. 

10. (1) The purchase price of any mine and such of its asso- 
ciated properties as have been purchased, as ascertained under the 
provisions of this Act, shall be paid by the Mining Council in 
mines purchase stock to the persons who, in the opinion of the 
Mining Council, have established their title to such stock. Pro- 
vided that an appeal shall lie to the High Court under rules to be 
framed by the High Court from the decision of the Mining Council 
as to the title of any such persons, but for no other purpose. 

(2) For the purpose of paying such purchase price the Treasury 
shall, on the request of the Mining Council, by warrant addressed 
to the Bank of England direct the creation of a new capital stock 
(to be called "Guaranteed State Mines Stock"), and in this Act 
referred to as " the stock," yielding interest at the rate on the 
nominal amount of capital equal to that payable at the date on which 
this Act received Royal Assent on what, in the opinion of the 
Treasury, is the nearest equivalent Government Loan Stock. 

(3) Interest shall be payable by equal half yearly or quarterly 
dividends at such times in each year as may be fixed by the war- 
rant first creating the stock. 

(4) The stock shall be redeemed at the rate of one hundred 
pounds sterling for every one hundred pounds of stock at such 
times and by such drawings as the Treasury, on the recommenda- 
tion of the Mining Council, may think fit. 

(5) The stock may be issued at such times and in such amounts 
and subject to such conditions as the Treasury may direct, and 
may be issued as bearer bonds with quarterly or half yearly inter- 
est coupons attached. 

(6) The stock shall be transferable in the books of the Bank 
of England in like manner as other stock is transferable under 
the National Debt Act, 1870. 

11. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall be lawful 



402 THE WORKERS 

for the Mining Council to open and work mines and search for, 
dig, bore, win, and deal with minerals and generally to carry on 
the industry of mining, distributing, vending, and exporting, to- 
gether with all other industries carried on in connection therewith. 
Provided that it shall not be lawful for the Mining Council to 
lease or sell any mine or minerals or rights to any person, associa- 
tion, or corporation. 

(2) The Mining Council may, from time to time, in such man- 
ner and on such terms as they think fit : 

(a) subject to the general consent of the Treasury, appoint or 
continue in employment or dismiss managers, engineers, 
agents, clerks, workmen, servants, and other persons ; and 

(6) construct, erect, or purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire 
buildings, plant, machinery, railways, tramways, hulks, 
ships, and other fixed or movable appliances or works of 
any description, and sell or otherwise dispose of the same 
when no longer required; and 

(c) sell, supply, and deliver fuel, coal, and other products, the 

result of mining operations, either within or without the 
realm; and 

(d) enter into and enforce contracts and engagements; and 

(e) generally do anything that the owner of a mine might law- 

fully do in the working of the mine, or that is authorized 
by regulations under this Act or by this Act; and 
(/) employ local authorities for any purpose they may think 
necessary to carry out their duties under this Act, on such 
terms as may be mutually agreed. 

(3) In addition to the powers conferred on the Mining Council 
by the last preceding sub-section, the Mining Council may, in such 
manner as they think fit, work any railway, tramway, hulk, ship, 
or other appliance for the purpose of winning, supplying, and 
delivering coal or other products. 

(4) The Mining Council may compulsorily purchase land or 
acquire such rights over land as they may require for the purpose 
of this Act, and shall have, with regard to the compulsory purchase 
of land, all the powers of purchasers acting under the Land 
Clauses Act, 1845, an d the Land Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) 
Act, 1845, or anv other Act giving power to acquire land com- 
pulsorily for public purposes, which may hereafter be enacted. 



THE NATIONALIZING OF MINES 403 

(5) With respect to any such purchase of land under the Land 
Clauses Acts in Great Britain the following provisions shall have 
effect (that is to say) : 

(a) The Land Clauses Acts shall be incorporated with this Act, 

except the provisions relating to access to the special Act, 
and in construing those Acts for the purposes of this sec- 
tion "the special Act" shall be construed to mean this 
Act, and "the promotors of the undertaking" shall be 
construed to mean the Mining Council, and " land " shall 
be construed to have the meaning given to it by this 
Act. 

(b) The bond required by Section 85 of the Lands Clauses Con- 

solidation Act, 1845, and by Section 84 of the Lands 
Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1845, shall be 
under the seal of the Mining Council, and shall be suffi- 
cient without sureties. 

12. (1) The Mining Council shall, for the purpose of the carry- 
ing on and development of the mining industry, divide Great 
Britain into districts, and shall in each district constitute a Dis- 
trict Mining Council of ten members, half of which shall be ap- 
pointed by the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. 

(2) The Mining Council may delegate to any District Mining 
Council or Pit Council, such of their powers under this Act as 
may conveniently be exercised locally, and the District Mining 
Council shall upon such delegation have and exercise within their 
district all the powers and duties of the Mining Council as may be 
delegated to them. 

(3) A District Mining Council shall, subject to the approval 
of the Mining Council, have power within their area to appoint 
Pit Councils for each mine or group of mines, composed of ten 
members, half of which shall be members of the Miners' Federa- 
tion of Great Britain, and nominated by the workers of the mine 
or groups of mines aforesaid, and the District Mining Council may 
delegate to such Pit Council such of their powers concerning the 
immediate working or management of a particular mine or group 
of mines as the District Mining Council may, subject to the ap- 
proval of the Mining Council, think fit. 

(4) The members of District Mining Councils shall be appointed 
for three years, but shall be eligible for reappointment, and the 



404 THE WORKERS 

members of Pit Councils shall be appointed for one year, but shall 
be eligible for reappointment. 

13. (1) For the purpose of advising the Mining Council it shall 
be lawful for His Majesty to appoint persons, to represent the 
interests of consumers, to be known as the Fuel Consumers' 
Council. 

(2) The Mining Council shall have power to convoke at such 
time as they think fit and under such regulations and conditions 
as they may prescribe advisory conferences of representatives of 
District Mining Councils, and the District Mining Councils shall 
have power in like manner to convoke advisory conferences of 
Pit Councils within their area. 

(3) The expenses of the Fuel Consumers' Council, National and 
District Mining Conferences shall, subject to the approval of the 
Treasury, be paid by the Mining Council. 

14. There shall be paid to each of the members of the Mining 
Council, other than the President, such salary as the Treasury may 
determine, and to the members of the District Mining Councils, 
and to the Pit Councils, such salaries and emoluments as the Min- 
ing Council, with the consent of the Treasury, may determine. 

15. (1) The Mining Council shall cause full and faithful ac- 
counts to be kept of all moneys received and expended under this 
Act, and of all assets and liabilities and of all profits and losses, 
and shall annually lay such accounts before Parliament. 

(2) The Mining Council shall annually cause a balance-sheet of 
accounts to be made, including a capital account and a profit and 
loss account for each mine worked under thir Act. 

(3) Such balance-sheet and statement shall i so prepared as to 
show fully and faithfully the financial position of each such mine, 
and the financial result of its operations for the year. 

(4) All moneys raised under the authority of this Act shall, as 
and when raised, and all other moneys received hereunder shall, 
as and when received, be paid into a separate account called " The 
National Mines Account." 

(5) All moneys withdrawn from the National Mines Account 
constituted under this Act shall be withdrawn only by the order 
of the Mining Council or such other person as the Mining Council 
may from time to time appoint. 

(6) All moneys in the National Mines Account, or payable into 
that account by any person whomsoever, and also all moneys owing 



THE NATIONALIZING OF MINES 405 

by any person under this Act, are hereby declared to be the prop- 
erty of the Crown, and recoverable accordingly as from debtors 
to the Crown. 

1 6. (i) There shall be transferred to the Mining Council all the 
existing assets and liabilities of mine undertakings and associated 
properties, as and when they are transferred to and vested in the 
Mining Council, other than liabilities for rights including royalty 
rents, wayleave rents, or any other underground rents or charges, 
payable or due at the time of the passing of this Act to any per- 
son, all of which shall cease to be payable on and after the ap- 
pointed day. 

(2) On the passing of this Act, there shall be ascertained by the 
Commissioners the amount of all moneys due to or from all mine 
undertakings, and the findings of the Commissioners as to the 
amount of such moneys shall be binding and conclusive on all 
parties. 

(3) The net amount of all moneys due to any mine undertaking, 
after all debts due from any such undertaking have been deducted, 
as ascertained under Sub-section (2) of this section, shall be paid 
by the Mining Council to the persons to whom in the opinion of 
the Commissioners such debts are due, and shall be deemed to be 
expenses incurred under this Act. Provided that an appeal shall 
lie to the High Court, under rules to be framed by the High Court, 
from the decision of the Commissioners as to the title of any such 
person, but for no other purpose. 

17. (1) All sums expended or payable under this Act in carry- 
ing out the provisions of this Act for expenses, or for salaries or 
wages payable under this Act, or in the construction, erection, or 
acquisition of buildings, plant, machinery, railways, tramways, 
hulks, ships, or other appliances or works, or otherwise, shall be 
payable out of moneys provided by Parliament. 

(2) Provided that moneys received under this Act in respect 
of the sale or export or supply of coal or other minerals (including 
the moneys received from the Government Departments) may be 
directly expended in or towards carrying out the purposes of this 
Act. 

18. After full provision has been made for all outgoings, losses, 
and liabilities for the year (including interest on securities created 
and issued in respect of moneys raised as aforesaid, and on moneys 
paid out of the Consolidated Fund), the net surplus profits then 



406 THE WORKERS 

remaining shall be applied in establishing a sinking fund and, 
subject thereto, in establishing a depreciation fund in respect of 
capital expended. 

19. (1) The Mining Council may, from time to time, make 
such regulations as they think necessary for any of the following 
purposes : 

(a) The management of mines under this Act; 

(&) the functions, duties, and powers of the District Mining 
Councils, Pit Councils, and other bodies or persons acting 
in the management and working of mines or distribution 
and sale of fuel under this Act; 

(c) the form of the accounts to be kept and the balance 

sheets to be prepared in respect of mines under this 
Act; 

(d) the mode in which the sinking funds and other funds con- 

nected with mines under this Act shall be held and admin- 
istered ; 
{e) generally any other purpose for which, in the opinion of the 
Mining Council, regulations are contemplated or required. 

(2) The Mining Council, before making or altering any regula- 
tions or conditions of employment, including wages, as affect work- 
men engaged in the mining industry, shall consult with the associa- 
tion known as the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, and, in 
the event of such representatives and the Mining Council failing 
to agree, the matter in dispute may be referred to arbitration on 
such terms as may be mutually agreed. 

(3) Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to 
interfere with the right of any employed person, subject to his 
contractual obligations, to dispose of his labor as he wills. 

20. (1) Every mine worked under this Act shall be managed 
and worked subject to the provisions of the Metalliferous Mines 
Regulations Acts, 1872 and 1875, tne Coal Mines Regulation Act, 
1908, the Coal Mines Act, 191 1, and any other Act regulating the 
hours, wages, or conditions of labor in mines. 

(2) There shall be transferred to and be vested in the Mining 
Council all the powers and duties of the Secretary of State and 
of any other Government Department imposed upon them by the 
Metalliferous Mines Regulations Acts, 1872 and 1875, tne Coal 
Mines Regulation Act, 1908, the Coal Mines Act, 191 1, or any 



THE NATIONALIZING OF MINES 407 

other Act regulating or affecting mines or the hours or conditions 
of labor therein. 

21. (i) It shall be the duty of the Mining Council to insure 
that there is a sufficient supply of fuel at reasonable prices 
throughout Great Britain, and for this purpose it shall be lawful 
for the Mining Council, or for any local authority or Government 
Department acting on their behalf, to establish stores and depots 
and to employ vehicles and to use all other necessary means for 
the selling of fuel and to sell fuel within the area of every local 
authority, and, further, for this purpose it shall be the duty of the 
railway companies or authorities of Great Britain to provide such 
facilities for the conveyance of fuel as the Mining Council may 
deem necessary to enable them to carry out the duties imposed 
upon them by this section at rates not greater than such railway 
companies or authorities are now entitled to charge for the con- 
veyance of fuel. 

(2) Where the Mining Council delegates to any local authority 
all or any of their powers under this section, it shall be lawful 
for such local authority to exercise all or any of the powers of the 
Mining Council so delegated to them. 

(3) All moneys had and received or expended by a local au- 
thority under this section shall be deemed to be had and received 
or expended on behalf of the Mining Council. 

22. This Act may be cited as the Nationalization of Mines and 
Minerals Act, 1919, and this Act and the Metalliferous Mines Regu- 
lations Acts, 1872 and 1875, an d the Coal Mines Regulation Acts, 
1887 and 1908, and the Coal Mines Act, 191 1, may be cited together 
as the Mines Acts, 1 872-1919, and shall come into operation on the 
first day of the second month, which shall be the appointed day, 
after the passing of this Act, and, save in the case of disclaimer, 
all valuations, purchase, and transference of mines and minerals 
to the Mining Council, and all other arrangements for the carrying 
out of this Act shall be concluded on or before the first day of 
the second year after the coming into operation of this Act. 

23. This Act shall not apply to Ireland. 

FIRST SCHEDULE 
Minerals excluded from this Act: 

Sandstone. Slate. Building Clay. 

Granite. Chalk. Gravel and Sand. 

Cherts. Flints. Igneous Rocks. 



408 



THE WORKERS 

SECOND SCHEDULE 
Enactments Repealed 



Session and Chapter. 



I William and Mary, 
ch. 30. 



5 William and Mary, 
ch. 6. 



An Act to prevent disputes 
and controversies concerning 
Royal Mines. 



55 George III, ch. 134, 



1 James I. of Scotland, 
ch. 12. 



12 James VI. of Scot-, 
land, ch. 31. 



Title or Short Title. 



An Act to repeal the statute 

made in the fifth year of King 

Henry IV. against multiplying 

gold and silver. 



An Act for altering the rate 
at which the Crown may exer- 
cise its right of pre-emption of 
Ore in which there is lead. 



Mines of Gold and Silver per- 
tains to the King. 



Anent the Tenth Part of 
Mynis. 



Extent of Repeal. 



The Whole Act 



The Whole Act 



The Whole Act 



The Whole Act 



The Whole Act 



CHAPTER III 

PRECIS OF EVIDENCE 

submitted to the coal industry commission by g. d. h. cole, 
m.a., fellow of magdalen college, oxford; hon. secretary, 
labor research department j executive member, national 
guilds league 

Introductory 

i. It is stated in paragraph IX of the Interim Report signed 
by the Chairman and three other members of the Commission 
that, " even upon the evidence already given, the present system 
of ownership and working in the coal industry stands condemned, 
and some other system must be substituted for it." 

In this opinion I concur. 

2. Six of the members of the Commission state in paragraph 3 
of the Summary of Conclusions in their Interim Report that, 
" in view of the impossibility of tolerating any unification of all 
the mines in the hands of the Capitalist Trust ... in the interests 
of the consumers as much as in that of the miners, nationalization 
ought to be, in principle, at once conceded." 

In this opinion I also concur. 

3. In paragraphs X and XI of the Interim Report signed by 
the Chairman and three other members of the Commission (but 
not in paragraph IX) nationalization and joint control appear 
to be presented as mutually inconsistent alternatives. Whether 
this is so or not would appear to depend upon the parties among 
whom the control is shared or divided. 

4. In paragraph XII of the same report it is stated that no 
scheme for joint control has been placed before the Commission; 
but among the papers circulated to me is a statement submitted by 
Mr. Straker, who gave evidence on behalf of the Miners' Fed- 
eration of Great Britain, and this statement embodies a scheme 
of national ownership combined with joint control by the miners 
and the State. 

409 



410 THE WORKERS 

With this scheme I am generally, and largely in detail, in agree- 
ment. 

5. In July, 1918, the Conference of the Miners' Federation 
at Southport unanimously adopted the following resolution: 

" That in the opinion of this Conference the time has 
arrived in the history of the coal-mining industry when it 
is clearly in the national interest to transfer the entire in- 
dustry from private ownership and control to State owner- 
ship, with joint control and administration by the workmen 
and the State. In pursuance of this opinion, the National 
Executive are instructed to immediately reconsider the Draft 
Bill for the Nationalization of the Mines ... in the light 
of the new phases of development in the industry, so as to 
make provision for the aforesaid control and administration 
when the measure becomes law." 

This resolution seems to me to embody the policy that ought 
to be adopted in the reorganization of the coal-mining industry 
which is admitted to be necessary by all those members of the 
Commission who have not a direct financial interest in the re- 
tention of the existing system. 

My reasons for desiring a system of ownership and control 
similar to that advocated by Mr. Straker fall under a number of 
heads : 

(a) Reasons for desiring direct and adequate participation 
by the workers in the management. 

(b) Reasons for desiring participation of persons nomi- 
nated by the State in the management. 

(c) Reasons for desiring national ownership. 

Reasons for Workers' Participation 

6. The workers employed in and about collieries should assume 
a direct and increasing share in the management, not only in 
order that the principles of democracy may be applied to indus- 
trial organization, but also in the interest of the consumers and 
of the community. We have reached a stage in certain vital 
industries, including coal-mining, if not in industry as a whole, 
when the workers will no longer consent to remain within the 
boundaries of the wage-system. 

7. By the wage-system I mean the system under which the 



PRECIS OF EVIDENCE 411 

worker sells his labor to an employer in return for a wage, and 
by this sale is supposed to forego all right over the manner in 
which his labor is used within the terms of the wage-contract, 
all right to exercise control over the management of the industry 
or service in which he is engaged, and all claim to the produce 
of his labor or to the common product of the labor of himself 
and his fellow-workmen. 

8. Thanks to the growing strength and consciousness of Trade 
Unionism, this wage-system is no longer fully and completely 
operative. Trade Unions do constantly by collective regulation 
of the conditions of labor, by collective bargaining, and by strikes, 
exercise a certain control over the way in which the labor of their 
members is used and even over management. But, excluded from 
direct participation in management and control, Trade Unions 
and workmen are confined in the main to the imposition of nega- 
tive forms of control — i.e., virtually to a veto on certain methods 
of using and organizing labor. Such negative regulation inevitably 
tends to take a restrictive form, which becomes more severe as 
Trade Unionism becomes stronger, until it threatens to break 
altogether the system — the wage-system — in which it is enclosed. 

9. In the words of the Memorandum submitted by the Labor 
representatives to the recent Industrial Conference, " Labor has 
now grown too strong to be controlled by force or compulsion 
of any kind." The method of destroying Trade Union " restric- 
tions" by a frontal attack upon Trade Unionism is therefore not 
only undesirable but in practice impossible. The only alternative 
is a frank acceptance of Trade Unionism, and an endeavor to con- 
vert the negative (and therefore partially restrictive) control 
which it now exercises into a positive (and therefore co-operative) 
control. 

10. In other words, the problem of industry at the present 
time — and of the coal-mining industry in particular — is to enlist 
the active co-operation of the workers and of their Trade Unions 
in making the industry as efficient as possible. 

11. This involves the establishment at once of the greatest 
amount of industrial democracy (that is, of direct control by 
the workers and their Trade Unions) that is immediately practi- 
cable, and the most rapid extension of that control that is practi- 
cable subsequently. 

12. Such control is not only, or mainly, a question of wages, 



412 THE WORKERS 

hours, and conditions of labor as ordinarily understood: it in- 
cludes the whole conduct of the industry, both in its productive 
and in its business aspects. Especially does it include the whole 
domain of financial and productive management and of super- 
vision. 

13. I am not unmindful of the enormous importance of technical 
and expert assistance, both in normal mining operations and more 
especially in carrying out the great changes that are necessary 
in connection with the reorganization of the industry. But I am 
of opinion both that technical and expert assistance can be com- 
bined with control by the workers at least as well as with control 
by private capitalists, and indeed that the natural affiliation of the 
brain-worker is with the manual worker rather than with the 
capitalist. To this point I shall return at a later stage. 

14. In short, from the point of view of the coal consumer and 
of the community as a whole, the only way of securing efficiency 
in production — perhaps the only way of securing at all the con- 
tinuance of the industry — is to enlist the active co-operation of 
the workers by agreeing at once to the assumption by them of a 
substantial share in control. 

15. I shall now attempt to state the case for direct participa- 
tion in control from the standpoint of the worker himself. Human 
freedom, where it exists, is not a name, but a living reality. It 
implies, not the absence of discipline or restraint, but the impo- 
sition of the necessary discipline or restraint either by the indi- 
vidual himself or by some group of which he forms, and feels 
himself to form, a part. A democratic or " free " system of gov- 
ernment is one in which every individual not only has a share or 
vote, but also feels that his share or vote is of some effect by 
virtue of his community with his fellow-sharers or fellow-voters. 

16. This principle of freedom should apply to industrial organi- 
zation, which forms in a modern community so important and so 
insistent a part of a man's life. It does not apply under the exist- 
ing system of conducting industry; and it cannot be made to apply 
fully in a day or a year. But it should be our object to apply it 
as fully as we can, and ever more fully. 

17. If, then, a man must receive orders, he must, if he is to be 
free, feel that these orders come from himself or from some 
group of which he feels himself to be a part, or from some person 
whose right to give orders is recognized and sustained by himself 



PRECIS OF EVIDENCE 413 

and by such a group. This means that free industrial organization 
must be built on the co-operation, and not merely on the acquies- 
cence, of the ordinary man, from the individual and the pit up to 
the larger units. 

18. Only the increasing adoption of this method of industrial 
organization can give the sense of fair treatment and active 
co-operation to the worker, and thereby through the removal of 
unrest and the stimulation of effort, efficient production and service 
to the consumer and to the community. 

19. With the question of national ownership I deal at a later 
stage; but I desire to point out here that national management 
by itself will not secure the full co-operation of the workers. 
State management means in practice management by a State 
Department; and a State Department is not a "group of which 
the ordinary man feels himself to be a part." The workers under 
State management are no more free, so far as the conditions 
of their working life are concerned, than the workers under capi- 
talist management. The question of joint control with the State 
is dealt with further below. 

20. Joint control with the present owners or with the consumers 
would also be ineffective. The reasons for this are also dealt with 
below. 

Reasons for Participation by the State 

21. The "control of industry" includes two distinct functions, 
the actual management of productive and distributive enterprise, 
and the ultimate financial control. I desire to deal with these 
separately. 

22. The reasons for State participation in actual management 
are, to a considerable extent, of only temporary validity. If the 
whole effective working personnel of the mining industry were 
combined in a single group possessed of a feeling of community, 
and including not only the workers and clerks, but also all the 
supervisors, professionals, and experts necessary to the conduct 
of the industry, direct participation by the State in the normal 
work of management would be unnecessary. It is my hope that 
this position will gradually be reached, and, to that extent, that 
direct State participation in management will be gradually with- 
drawn. 

23. Until this becomes possible, the State should appoint as its 



414 THE WORKERS 

representatives on the Mining Council (excluding for the moment 
those appointed to represent the consumers) persons of profes- 
sional or expert knowledge of mining operations. 

24. The function of the State, therefore, in relation to produc- 
tive management, is mainly that of safeguarding the technical 
efficiency of the industry until the creation of a complete Mining 
Guild becomes possible. 

25. It is also suggested that the State appointments to the 
Mining Council should include persons specially appointed to rep- 
resent the consumers. Whether this also would be a transitional 
measure I am unable to make up my mind. It is, however, clearly 
necessary that the consumers of coal should have some means 
of insuring that their views will be heard, especially in relation 
to questions of coal distribution and the allocation of supplies to 
various districts. 

26. Direct appointment of the consumers' representatives by 
organizations representing the main groups of coal consumers 
has been suggested; but I am unable to agree to the suggestion 
for two reasons: 

(1) Because the groups of consumers are changing groups, 
and therefore their names ought to be included in an Act 
of Parliament {e.g., if coal distribution is made a municipal 
and/or a co-operative monopoly, the retail coal trader, who 
is now an important consumer, drops out of existence). 

(2) Because I am unable to accept the view that an em- 
ployers' association in, say, the steel industry is a proper 
representative of the consumers. The workers in the steel 
industry are fully as interested in the supply of coal as the 
employers. 

These reasons are not intended to exclude consultation by the 
Government with consumers' associations in appointing the con- 
sumers' representatives on the Mining Council. But, pending the 
development of some more effective means of representing the 
consumers on democratic lines, the State must be regarded as 
the warden of the consumers' interests. 1 

1 Since writing this passage, I have been led to concur in the view 
put before the Commission by Mr. Arthur Greenwood that there 
should be a separate Coal Consumers' Council with advisory powers, 
as an alternative to direct representation of the consumers on the 
Mining Council. 



PRECIS OF EVIDENCE 415 



Financial Control 



2J. I come now to the question of ultimate financial control. 
This involves (a) scrutiny of the balance-sheet of the Mining 
Council, (b) ultimate control of prices, (c) provision of capital, 
(d) utilization of the balance of revenue over expenditure, and 
(c) methods of expropriation, redemption, etc. 

28. These are functions which concern the State as the repre- 
sentative, not of the consumers, but of the community as an 
association of neighbors or citizens. Whatever may be the future 
structure of political society, they are for the moment functions 
properly to be exercised by the people's representatives in Parlia- 
ment. 

29. At the same time, the existing organization of Parliament 
does not provide for their satisfactory exercise. I suggest a 
Committee of the House of Commons, presided over by the Min- 
ister of Mines, to consult with the Mining Council, and to take 
administrative action on these matters, subject to the sanction of 
the House as a whole. 

30. This implies that any surplus of mining revenue over ex- 
penditure or of expenditure over revenue will pass into the Budget, 
and that any fresh capital required, whether raised by special 
mining stock or otherwise, will be provided by the State. At 
the same time, the general financial management should be in the 
hands of the Mining Council. 

31. Both the Mining Council and the proposed House of 
Commons Committee are often criticized on the ground that they 
undermine " Ministerial responsibility." May I respectfully record 
my conviction that, under existing conditions, " Ministerial re- 
sponsibility " is mostly moonshine ? 

Reasons for National Ownership 

32. The objections brought against national ownership are 
usually for the most part objections to bureaucratic control. The 
above considerations, which presuppose national ownership, show 
that there is no necessary connection between it and bureaucratic 
control. 

33. National ownership of the mines is necessary for three 
principal reasons — (1) for the sake of the community, in order 



416 THE WORKERS 

to secure the fullest utilization and conservation of a vital natural 
product in the common interest; (2) for the sake of the consumer, 
in order to prevent exploitation and profiteering; (3) in order to 
give the workers the sense of working for the community, and 
not for the benefit of any private person. 

34. Full utilization and conservation of our coal resources can 
only be secured by unified working, and real unification of work- 
ing can only be secured by unified ownership. 

35. This only leaves the two alternatives of a gigantic private 
trust or monopoly (either under public control or otherwise) or 
of national ownership. 

36. A Coal Trust not under public control is obviously out of 
the question. 

37. War-time experience of State control without ownership 
has proved the impossibility of either effective or efficient control 
without ownership. Control without ownership involves huge 
waste by the duplication of administrative machinery. 

38. Moreover, in controlling prices without ownership the State 
continually falls between the two stools of cheapness and plenty. 
If it restricts prices, output is restricted; if it fosters output, it 
can only do so by permitting high prices. The retention of the 
motive of profit-making as the incentive in industry renders effi- 
cient State control impossible. 

39. In addition, the full co-operation of the workers by hand 
and brain can only be secured if they feel that they are working, 
not for private profit, but for the benefit of the community. Just 
as national ownership is inadequate without workers' control, so 
workers' control is inadequate without national ownership. 

40. It has been suggested that the full co-operation of the 
workers could be secured by a system of joint control between 
owners and workers. But real control by the workers is impossible 
as long as the industry continues to be conducted for the private 
profit of the owners alone. 

41. Where this is recognized, it is sometimes suggested that 
the workers might be given, in law or in fact, a share in the 
ownership by some system of indiviual or collective profit-sharing 
or co-partnership. 

42. In my opinion, this would not work in practice, because 
the motives of the owners and workers are irreconcilable with 
the system of private ownership. 



PRECIS OF EVIDENCE 417 

43. Even if it could be brought into operation, its effects would 
be anti-social ; for the profit-making motive is not improved 
merely by increasing the number of shareholders. The coal in- 
dustry requires to be worked as a national service, free from the 
motive of profit-making. 

44. In any case, it is hardly necessary to discuss this suggestion 
in detail, for it would certainly be rejected by the miners, and, 
as it has only been devised in the hope of making possible the 
continuance of private ownership, it would thereby fall at once, 
if it has not already fallen, to the ground. 

Expropriation and Compensation 

45. I do not desire to enter at all fully into this aspect of the 
question, on which I am not an expert. 

46. I desire, however, to emphasize my view that it would be 
wrong to compensate the owners of mines or minerals on the 
basis of their past or present commercial value. 

47. My reason is that this value depends upon the control which 
they have hitherto been able to exercise over Labor. To the 
extent to which they have lost this control the commercial value 
of their property has become unreal, and they hz.ve no title to 
compensation in respect of such value. They must not be placed 
by compensation in a more secure or more favorable position 
than other capitalists, who are also losing their control over 
Labor on which their past profits have depended. 

Methods of Control 

48. As I have stated, I am in general agreement with the 
scheme of control put forward by Mr. Straker on March 14. 
There are only two points which I desire to elaborate further 
at the present stage. 

49. The first point concerns the position of professional, techni- 
cal, and supervisory staffs. The members of these staffs can 
be roughly divided into two classes — (a) those whose function 
is mainly expert, and (b) those whose function is mainly the 
supervision or direction of other men. 

50. In the case of class (a) the principle of selection must 
be primarily based on " qualification " and expert knowledge. In 
the case of class (b) it must be based primarily on personality. 



418 THE WORKERS 

51. I hold strongly that those men whose business it is mainly 
to direct others should be chosen by those whom it is their 
business to direct, either by ballot or through a Committee of 
Selection or a Trade Union. 

52. Where persons whose function is mainly directive must 
also possess technical or professional qualifications, the range 
of choice should be restricted to persons possessing the necessary 
qualifications; but the principle of selection from below should 
be preserved 

53. There is not the same reason for the adoption of this 
course in the case of persons whose function is mainly or ex- 
clusively expert and advisory. 

54. The second point concerns the question of centralization 
and local initiative in control. I hold strongly that the full 
co-operation of the workers can only be enlisted by a system of 
control which is largely localized, and includes a considerable 
element of direct control by the workers in each particular pit. 
A system of joint control nationally, or even nationally and in 
the proposed districts, will not be effective unless it is combined 
with a system of pit control. 

55. At the same time, pit control will probably not at the 
beginning be capable of such full establishment as national and 
district control. It is therefore of the greatest importance that 
the system of control first established should be such as to admit 
of an increasing element of devolution, both from the Mining 
Council to the district, and from both to the pit. 

Conclusion 

56. In conclusion, I desire to emphasize my agreement with 
the words of paragraph XV of the Interim Report signed by 
the Chairman and by three other members of the Commission, that 
" it is in the interests of the country that the colliery workers 
shall in the future have an effective voice in the direction of the 
mine. For generations the colliery workers have been educated 
socially and technically. The result is a great national asset. 
Why not use it?" 

I believe that these words can only be made good in fact by 
the adoption of national ownership combined with some such 
system of control as that which Mr. Straker outlined to the 
Commission. 



PRECIS OF EVIDENCE 419 

Evidence of George Douglas Howard Cole to the Coal Industry 
Commission — May 2, 19 19: 
He spoke of: 

" The aspiration on the part of a great proportion of the people in 
industry, including many employers, managers, and workers, which is 
an inspiration to serve the public." 

" That motive of public service." 

" Discipline by an organization in which you are conscious of your 
own Citizenship in the Community." 

"Where the pit committee has taken other functions (in addition 
to control over absenteeism) into its hands, it has for a time in certain 
districts been a very great success. I might mention certain Derby- 
shire collieries." 

Mr. Cole was then requested by Mr. Justice Sankey to return 
to the Commission with the names of those Derbyshire Commit- 
tees, which had a share in direction and had been a "very great 
success." 

He replied: 

" My knowledge of these Committees is based on discussions with 
the Derbyshire Miners' Association of those things happening. I do 
not know the names of the pits the various people are employed in." 

The Chairman replied: 

" That piece of evidence is most important." 

On May 6, Mr. Cole was recalled and said: 

" I have communicated with the Derbyshire Miners' Association, and 
they are getting information, but it has not yet arrived." 

On June 4, he was recalled, and stated: 

" I went to the Miners' Federation. I heard from them a few days 
ago that they had been unable to get any information of value." 

Mr. Justice Sankey: 

" I do not understand that quite. You see you made some very 
definite statements about conversations you had with regard to these 
pit committees. I want you to tell me about that." 






420 THE WORKERS 

Mr. Cole : " What I did was that I addressed a meeting of the 
Derbyshire Miners' Council held at Chesterfield. I cannot 
remember the exact date. It was either 1916 or the begin- 
ning of 1917, and in the course of the discussion and in the 
course of informal talking afterwards, a good deal was 
said about the working of particular pit committees." 

Sankey: "Can you tell me the name of a single one of them?" 

Mr. Cole : "I am afraid I cannot." 

Sankey: "Have you written to the Miners' Agent in Derbyshire?" 

Mr. Cole : " I asked the Miners' Federation to get the information 
for me and I only heard from them two or three days ago 
that they had been unable to get it." 

Sankey : " I thought you were going to be good enough to get it 
on your own account from Derbyshire ? " 

Mr. Cole : " I would have done that, only I thought I should get it 
more effectively through the Miners' Federation, and I only 
knew two or three days ago that they had failed to get it." 

Sankey : " It is such a very valuable suggestion to some of us who 
have been thinking upon these matters, and who relied 
upon your promise to give us assistance. Can you not do 
anything more than that? Have you the name of the 
Derbyshire agent with whom you had a conversation ? " 

Mr. Cole: "Amongst the people I had conversation with was Mr. 
Frank Hall, secretary of the Derbyshire Miners' Associa- 
tion." 

Sankey: "Have you written to him?" 

Mr. Cole : " No, because I only heard the Miners' Federation failed 
to do it recently." 

Sankey: "Do you know his address?" 

Mr. Cole : " Yes." 

Sankey: "Is it possible for you to write to him?" 

Mr. Cole: "Certainly." 

Sankey: "You are leaving it very late. I relied a great deal upon 
your promise to assist us. It leaves us in some difficulty. 
I am very anxious to hear about these committees which 
I regard as most important." 

Mr. Cole : " All I know about the matter is that subsequently they 
broke down upon a disagreement between the owner and 
the miners as to the matters which were legitimate to come 
before them." 

Sankey: "What was the dispute about?" 

Mr. Cole : " I think the dispute was about the right of the miners' 
representatives to bring before the committees matters 
which were not connected with absenteeism purely, but 



PRECIS OF EVIDENCE 421 

which related to other circumstances of mine management 

affecting output." 
Sankey: "Then I am afraid you cannot assist us further?" 
Mr. Cole : " I will do what I can, but I do not quite see what I am 

to do." 
Sankey : " Last time I was very anxious you should assist us with 

that evidence. It would have assisted me personally very 

greatly. As you cannot do it, I am afraid you cannot. I 

am much obliged to you." 



i 



SECTION FOUR 
THE JUDGMENT 

CHAPTER I 

COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT, 1919 

Report by the Honorable Mr. Justice Sankey, G.B.E. 
(Chairman) 

1. Recommendations 

I 

/ recommend that Parliament be invited immediately to pass leg- 
islation acquiring the Coal Royalties for the State and paying fair 
and just compensation to the owners. 

II 

I recommend on the evidence before me that the principle of 
State ownership of the coal mines be accepted. 

Ill 

/ recommend that the scheme for local administration here- 
inafter set out, or any modification of it adopted by Parliament, be 
immediately set up with the aid of the Coal Controller's Depart- 
ment, and that Parliament be invited to pass legislation acquiring 
the coal mines for the State, after the scheme has been worked for 
three years from the date of this Report, paying fair and just 
compensation to the owners. 

IV 

The success of the industry, whether under private or State 
ownership, depends upon productivity and upon every one doing his 
best. The alarming fall in output has convinced me that at present 
every one is not doing his best. I am not able to say whether this 

422 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 423 

is the fault of the management or of the workers or of both. Each 
blames the other. The cause must be investigated, but, whatever 
it may be, it is hopeless to expect an improvement in the present 
atmosphere of distrust and recrimination. My prescription is the 
old proverb, " Plenty of work and a heart to do it." 

V 

/ make this Report because I believe that the workers at present 
employed can and will maintain an output of 250,000,000 tons a 
year at least, which was the figure adopted in the Interim Report 
of March 20th last, presented by me and my three colleagues. I 
rely upon the honor of the men's leaders and of the men and of 
all others concerned to achieve this result. In my opinion it can 
and ought to be done. If the output per man continues to go 
down the supremacy of this country is in danger. 

VI 

I recommend the continuance of the Coal Control for three 
years from the date of this Report. 

VII 

I repeat paragraph XIX of the Interim Report of March 20th 
above referred to. The question of State ownership is one of 
policy to be determined by Parliament in which all classes, inter- 
ests, and industries are represented. 



2. Reasons for the State Ownership of Coal Royalties 

VIII 

Coal is our principal national asset, and as it is a wasting asset 
it is in the interest of the State that it should be won and used 
to the best advantage. 

IX 

The seams of coal are now vested in the hands of nearly 4,000 
owners, most of whom are reasonable, but some of whom are a 
real hindrance to the development of the national asset. 



424 THE JUDGMENT 

X 

In certain areas the ownership of the seams of coal is in the 
hands of many small owners some of whom cannot be found, and 
this causes great delay and expense in acquiring the right to work 
the mineral. 

XI 

Barriers of coal are left unworked between the properties of 
various owners to an extent which, in many cases, is not neces- 
sary for safe and proper working of the individual concern, and 
millions of tons of the national asset are thereby wasted. 

XII 

Drainage and pumping are carried on in individual pits at heavy 
unnecessary expense instead of under a centralized plan covering 
a whole area. Further, lack of co-operation in drainage has in 
the past been, and is at the present time, conducive to the aban- 
donment of coal and collieries. 

XIII 

Boundaries of undertakings are arbitrary and irregular and 
make coal in certain places difficult to work or not worth working. 

XIV 

Plots of land are let for building and the law allows this to be 
done without the right of underground support, so that the coal 
is worked from underneath, houses are damaged, and no compen- 
sation is payable; this is not consistent with the public well-being. 

XV 

Under State ownership there will be one owner instead of nearly 
4,000 owners of the national asset, and the difficulties caused under 
the present system in regard to barriers, drainage, pumping, 
boundaries, and support will largely disappear. 

XVI 

The State ownership should be exercised through a Minister 
of Mines. 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 425 

XVII 

The interim report of the Acquisition and Valuation of Land 
Committee has pointed out at least 14 defects arising from the 
present system of ownership of the seams of coal, and proposes to 
create a new sanctioning authority vested with power to issue com- 
pulsory orders from time to time to remedy these defects as and 
when they are in different cases found to exist. 

XVIII 

/ regard as preferable to this expensive piece-meal machinery 
that the seams of coal should be acquired by the State once and 
for all in one final settlement, together with all usual or necessary 
easements and rights incidental thereto, together with power to 
procure all such easements and rights in the future. If the State 
only acquires the seams from time to time it means many arbitra- 
tions, many intermediate settlements, enhanced delay, and increased 
cost of administration. 



3. Method of Purchase of Coal Royalties 

XIX 

The value of each individual royalty owner's interest should be 
assessed by Government valuers with an appeal to a specially con- 
stituted tribunal. 

XX 

Such valuers should take into consideration : 

(a) the properties where coal has been developed; 

(b) potential properties where coal is known to exist and is 

awaiting development; 

(c) surface wayleaves and shaft rent in certain cases which 

destroy the amenities of the neighboring property; 

(d) the usual royalty charged in the district for the class of 

coal in question ; 
But not— 

(e) properties in which the existence of coal is uncertain but 

suspected; and 
(/) underground wayleaves. 



426 THE JUDGMENT 

XXI 

I also suggest that Parliament in laying down the principles of 
valuation should consider whether it is not possible to fix a total 
maximum sum which would form a pool to be allocated between 
the various individual royalty owners in accordance with the fore- 
going or any other principles which Parliament may adopt. The 
advantage of this plan would be that the State would at once know 
its total maximum liability. 



4. Reasons for State Ownership of Coal Mines 

XXII 

Coal mining is our national key industry upon which nearly all 
other industries depend. A cheap and adequate supply of coal is 
essential to the comfort of individuals and to the maintenance of 
the trade of the country. In this respect, and in the peculiar con- 
ditions of its working, the coal mining industry occupies a unique 
and exceptional place in our national life, and there is no other 
industry with which it can be compared. 

XXIII 

The other industries and consumers generally are entitled to 
have a voice in deciding the amount of coal to be produced and 
the price at which it is to be sold, which they have not had in the 
past. 

XXIV 

The export trade in coal has greatly increased, and the system 
of competition between many private colliery owners and ex- 
porters to obtain orders frequently prevents the industry getting 
the full value for the article. 

XXV 

The inland trade in coal has greatly increased, and the system 
of distribution through the hands of many private individuals pre- 
vents the consumer getting the article as cheaply as he should do. 
It has been estimated that there are 28,000 retail distributors of 
coal in the United Kingdom. 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 427 

XXVI 

In other words, there is underselling in the export trade and 
overlapping in the inland trade. 

XXVII 

Passing to another phase of the difficulty, the lack of capital 
in some mines and the lack of proper management in others pre- 
vent the development of coalfields and the extraction of coal to 
the best advantage for the benefit of the Nation. 

XXVIII 

There are in the United Kingdom about 3,000 pits owned by 
about 1,500 companies or individuals. Unification under State 
ownership makes it possible to apply the principles of standardiza- 
tion of materials and appliances and thereby to effect economies 
to an extent which is impossible under a system where there are 
so many individual owners. 

XXIX 

It may be argued that the foregoing defects in the present sys- 
tem could be removed by changes in the direction of Unification 
falling short of State ownership. 

XXX 

But a great change in outlook has come over the workers in 
the coalfields, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to carry on 
the industry on the old accustomed lines. The relationship between 
the masters and workers in most of the coalfields in the United 
Kingdom is, unfortunately, of such a character that it seems im- 
possible to better it under the present system of ownership. Many 
of the workers think they are working for the capitalist and a 
strike becomes a contest between labor and capital. This is much 
less likely to apply with the State as owner, and there is fair rea- 
son to expect that the relationship between labor and the com- 
munity will be an improvement upon the relationship between 
labor and capital in the coalfields. 



428 THE JUDGMENT 

XXXI 

Half a century of education has produced in the workers in the 
coalfields far more than a desire for the material advantages of 
higher wages and shorter hours. They have now, in many cases 
and to an ever increasing extent, a higher ambition of taking their 
due share and interest in the direction of the industry to the suc- 
cess of which they, too, are contributing. 

XXXII 

The attitude of the colliery owners is well expressed by Lord 
Gainford, who, speaking on their behalf as a witness before the 
Commission, stated : — " / am authorised to say on behalf of the 
Mining Association that if owners are not to be left complete 
executive control they will decline to accept the responsibility of 
carrying on the industry, and, though they regard nationalization 
as disastrous to the country, they feel they would in such event be 
driven to the only alternative — nationalization on fair terms." 

XXXIII 

It is true that in the minds of many men there is a fear that 
State ownership may stifle incentive, but to-day we are faced in 
the coalfields with increasing industrial unrest and a constant 
strife between modern labor and modern capital. 

I think that the danger to be apprehended from the certainty of 
the continuance of this strife in the coal mining industry outweighs 
the danger arising from the problematical fear of the risk of the 
loss of incentive. 

XXXIV 

The object to be aimed at under State ownership is national co- 
ordination of effort in respect of the production of the national 
asset and of its export and inland supply. 



5. Method of Purchase and Carrying on of the Coal Mines 

XXXV 

It is suggested that the State should purchase all the collieries, 
including colliery buildings, plant, machinery, stores, and other 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 429 

effects in and about the colliery at a fair value subject to the next 
paragraph. 

XXXVI 

In addition, expenditure on development of the collieries (in- 
cluding the provision of houses) incurred after a date to be fixed 
and with the consent of the Controller of Coal Mines should be 
repaid with interest at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum from the 
date of the expenditure provided that if such expenditure has 
become remunerative before the date of the purchase, the amount 
of the sum payable by way of interest should be reduced by the 
amount of the profits earned thereon. 

XXXVII 

In further addition the State should take power to purchase real 
and movable property directly associated with the working of the 
colliery not comprised in paragraph XXXV, other than the assets 
at the colliery, at a fair value. 

XXXVIII 

In the case of composite undertakings the owners should have 
a right to compel the State to purchase, and the State should have 
the right to compel the owner to sell the whole undertaking if, in 
the opinion of an arbitrator, the severance of the undertaking can- 
not be economically or commercially effected. By composite under- 
taking is meant an undertaking where a company or firm is carry- 
ing on a colliery in addition to and in conjunction with another 
works, e.g., a colliery and a steel works. 

XXXIX 

Without prejudice to the powers recommended by the last para- 
graph, it is a matter for careful consideration whether the coke 
and by-product industry, which is at present only in its infancy, 
should not be allowed to remain in private ownership. 

XL 

It is suggested that the bulk of the present officials engaged in 
the coal mining industry, including the managing directors of com- 



430 THE JUDGMENT 

panies, should be offered an opportunity of remaining on at their 
present salaries on a 5 years' agreement together with any in- 
creases awarded from time to time. 



XLI 

The Civil Servant has not been trained to run an industry, but 
the war has demonstrated the potentiality of the existence of a 
new class of men (whether already in the service of the State or 
not) who are just as keen to serve the State as they are to serve 
a private employer and who have been shown to possess the quali- 
ties of courage in taking initiative necessary for the running of an 
industry. 

XLII 

Hitherto, State management of industries has on balance failed 
to prove itself free from serious shortcomings, but these short- 
comings are largely due to the neglect of the State to train those 
who are to be called on for knowledge and ability in management. 

XLIII 

The experience of the last few years has, however, shown that 
it is not really difficult for the British nation to provide a class of 
administrative officers who combine the strongest sense of public 
duty with the greatest energy and capacity for initiative. Those 
who have this kind of training appear to be capable in a high 
degree of assuming responsibility and also of getting on with the 
men whom they have to direct. 

XLIV 

Finally, under State ownership it is always possible to lease a 
mine to particular persons on terms agreeable to those who are 
engaged in the production of coal thereat, and this principle can 
be applied not only to a mine or a group of mines contained in 
a particular district, but to a composite undertaking. 

N.B. — If and when the coal mines are acquired by the State any 
just claims of pioneer boring companies should be recognized, and 
the State should take power to carry out exploratory borings. 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 431 



6. The Scheme for Local Administration 

N.B. — The propositions put forward in this scheme must not be 
regarded as recommendations, nor does the scheme aim at being 
comprehensive. The time at my disposal only allows me to make 
suggestions which it is hoped will be useful to Parliament. 

Index to Scheme 

Paragraphs 

(i) Local Mining Council xlv-liii 

(ii) District Mining Council liv-lxiv 

(iii) National Mining Council lxv-lxxii 

(iv) Finance and Publicity lxxiii-lxxviii 

(v) Safety, Health, and Research . . . lxxix-lxxxv 

(vi) Admiralty Coal lxxxvi 

(vii) Export Trade lxxxvii-lxxxix 

(i) The Local Mining Council 

N.B. — The object of this part of the scheme is to take advantage 
of the knowledge of the workers by allowing them to sit on the 
Councils for the purpose of advising the manager and to give them 
an effective voice in all questions where their own safety and 
health are concerned. 

XLV 

Every mine shall be under one duly certificated manager who 
shall be responsible for the control, management, direction, and 
safety of the mine and the extent and method of working, pro- 
vided always that such manager shall not be personally liable for 
conforming to any lawful order for safety made by the District 
Mining Council. 

XLVI 

There shall be established at each mine a Local Mining Council 
who shall meet fortnightly, or oftener if need be, to advise the 
manager on all questions concerning the direction and safety of 
the mine. 



432 THE JUDGMENT 

XLVII 

The Council shall consist of 10 members of whom the manager, 
under-manager, and the commercial manager shall be ex officio. 
Four members shall be elected by ballot by the workers in or about 
the mine and the remaining 3 members shall be appointed by the 
District Mining Council. The members shall hold office for 2 
years. 

XLVIII 

It shall be the duty of the Council to report fortnightly to the 
Minister of Mines and to the District Mining Council any fall 
in output and the cause thereof. 

XLIX 

If the manager refuses to take the advice of the Local Mining 
Council on any question concerning the safety and health of the 
mine such question shall be referred to the District Mining Council. 



The contracts of employment of workmen shall embody an 
undertaking to be framed by the District Mining Council to the 
effect that no workman will, in consequence of any dispute, join in 
giving any notice to determine his contract, nor will he combine 
to cease work, unless and until the question in dispute has been 
before the Local Mining Council and the District Mining Council 
and those Councils have failed to settle the dispute. 

LI 

There shall be a commercial manager of the mine or group of 
mines (which office, if the District Mining Council think fit, shall 
be vested in the mine manager) whose duty it shall be, subject 
to the control of the manager, to arrange for the purchase and 
supply of stores in the mines and to take steps subject to the con- 
trol of the district commercial manager for the disposal of its 
output. 

N.B. — It is thought that some of the present managing directors 
of companies might be appointed the commercial managers. 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 433 

LII 

Each mine shall send in a costing account in the approved form 
to the District Mining Council. 

LIII 

The workers at each mine shall be entitled to an output allow- 
ance to be ascertained in an approved manner and divided among 
them half-yearly. 

(ii) The District Mining Council 

N.B. — The object of this part of the scheme is to prevent the 
bureaucratic running of the industry by causing it to be controlled 
locally by a Council of fourteen, upon which there is equal repre- 
sentation for the miners, for the consumers, and for the persons 
acquainted with the commercial and technical side of the industry. 

liv 

There shall be established in each mining district a District Min- 
ing Council upon whom shall rest the main executive responsibility 
of taking measures to secure the health and safety of the workmen 
and the production of coal in the district. 

N.B. — It is suggested that the mining districts be: 

i. Scotland, East. 

2. Scotland, West. 

3. Northumberland. 

4. Durham. 

5. Cumberland. 

6. Yorkshire. 

7. Lancashire and Cheshire. 

8. North Wales. 

9. Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Leicestershire. 
10. Staffordshire, Worcestershire, and Shropshire. 
n. Warwickshire. 

12. South Wales and Monmouthshire. 

13. Gloucestershire, Somersetshire. 

14. Kent. 



434 THE JUDGMENT 

LV 

The District Mining Council shall conform to any order for 
safety made by the Chief Inspector of Mines, or by a Divisional 
Mines Inspector, and shall not make an order in respect of safety 
which is contrary to any Act of Parliament or regulations there- 
under. 

LVI 

Subject to the direction of the Minister of Mines the District 
Mining Council shall manage in its district the entire coal extrac- 
tion, the regulation of output, the discontinuance of or the open- 
ing out of mines, trial sinkings, the control of prices, and the basis 
of wage assessment, and the distribution of coal. 

LVII 

In fixing the pit-head price under State ownership the following 
items shall be provided for: 

(a) a fair and just wage for all workers in the industry. 

(b) the cost of materials, etc. 

(c) upkeep and management, and development work. 

(d) interest on the Bonds to be issued as the purchase price of 

the coal royalties and coal mines. 

(e) the contribution towards a sinking fund to redeem the 

Bonds. 
(/) a profit for national purposes. 

LVIII 

The District Mining Council shall be entitled to make arrange- 
ments with local authorities or with private persons (including 
in such term co-operative societies, companies, firms, and indi- 
viduals) and in country districts, if permissible, with the local 
railway station-master, for the sale and distribution of inland coal, 
and with private persons, firms, and companies for the sale and 
distribution of export coal, and shall have power to fix from time 
to time the price above which coal may not be sold for household 
and industrial purposes. 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 435 

LIX 

The District Mining Council shall consist of a Chairman and 
Vice-Chairman, appointed by the Minister of Mines, and twelve 
other members. Four members shall be elected by ballot by the 
workers, and the remaining eight members shall be appointed by 
the National Mining Council as follows: 

Four to represent consumers (of whom in iron and steel dis- 
tricts two at least shall represent the iron and steel trades, 
and in shipping districts two at least shall represent recognized 
coal exporters). 

Two to represent the technical side of the industry, e.g., 
mining engineering, and 

Two to represent the commercial side of the industry — pur- 
chase of material and sale of output. 

LX 

All members shall hold office for three years, and shall be paid 
a salary. 

LXI 

The District Mining Council shall meet at least monthly, and 
oftener if need be. 

LXII 

The District Mining Council shall appoint all mine managers 
and all commercial mine managers within its own district. 

LXIII 

The District Mining Council shall appoint a commercial com- 
mittee, and a commercial manager whose duty shall be, subject to 
the control of the commercial committee, to arrange for the pur- 
chase and supply of stores for any mine and to take steps for the 
disposal of the output of coal from his district. 

LXIV 

The contracts of employment of workmen shall embody an 
undertaking to be framed by the District Mining Council to the 
effect that no workman will, in consequence of any dispute affect- 
ing a district, join in giving any notice to determine his contract, 
nor will he combine to cease work, unless and until the question in 



436 THE JUDGMENT 

dispute has been before the District Mining Council and the Na- 
tional Mining Council and those Councils have failed to settle the 
dispute. 

(iii) The National Mining Council 

N.B. — The object of this part of the scheme is to get a body 
composed of members of the District Mining Councils who shall 
meet at stated intervals to discuss and advise the Minister of 
Mines on all questions connected with the Industry. The Minister 
of Mines will be assisted by a Standing Committee of 18 members 
elected from and by the National Mining Council, who will meet 
regularly for the purpose of superintending the operations of Dis- 
trict Mining Councils. The Minister of Mines will sit in and be 
responsible to Parliament. 

LXV 

There shall be established a National Mining Council, which 
shall meet from time to time to discuss with and advise the Min- 
ister of Mines upon all questions connected with the operation and 
management of the industry. 

LXVI 

The Minister of Mines shall be appointed by the Government, 
and shall sit in and be responsible to Parliament. Such Minister 
shall superintend the operation of the District Mining Councils 
and shall preside over the National Mining Council. 

LXVII 

The National Mining Council shall be formed as follows : — Each 
District Council shall elect one member for every 5,000,000 tons 
of output, provided that every district shall elect at least one 
member. 

LXVIII 

The members shall be elected for three years and shall meet 
once a year in London, once a year in Edinburgh, and once a year 
in Cardiff and at such other times as summoned by the Minister 
of Mines. Members shall be entitled to their traveling expenses. 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 437 

LXIX 

There shall be elected from and by the members of the National 
Mining Council a Standing Committee of 18, six of whom shall 
retire each year and shall not be eligible for re-election for the 
next year. Six shall represent the workers, six shall represent 
consumers, and six the technical and commercial side of the 
industry. 

LXX 

The Minister of Mines shall be entitled, after consulting the 
Standing Committee, to veto any resolution come to either by a 
Local Mining Council or a District Mining Council, and in the 
event of his so doing he shall state publicly his grounds for so 
acting. 

LXXI 

No national alteration of wages shall be made without the con- 
sent both of the Minister of Mines and the Standing Committee. 

LXXII 

The contracts of employment of workmen shall embody an 
undertaking to be framed by the District Mining Council to the 
effect that no workman will, in consequence of any national dis- 
pute, join in giving any notice to determine his contract, nor will 
he combine to cease work, unless and until the question in dispute 
has been before the National Mining Council and that Council has 
failed to settle the dispute; provided that on the written request 
of 15 members of the National Mining Council the Minister of 
Mines shall convene a meeting of the Council within one month. 



(iv) Finance and Publicity 

LXXIII 

The finances of each district shall be kept entirely separate, and 
a return in the approved form shall be sent to the Minister of 
Mines once a quarter. 

LXXIV 

An approved system of auditing shall be established for all ac- 
counts. „. 



438 THE JUDGMENT 

LXXV 

The Treasury shall not be entitled to interfere with or to have 
any control over the appropriation of moneys derived from the 
industry. The said moneys shall be kept entirely separate and 
apart from other national moneys, until the profit accruing from 
the industry is periodically ascertained and paid into the Ex- 
chequer. 

LXXVI 

It being of vital importance that the Mines Department should 
be managed with the freedom of a private business, the present 
Civil Service system of selection and promotion by length of serv- 
ice, of grades of servants, of minuting opinions and reports from 
one servant to another, and of salaries and pensions, shall not 
apply to the servants attached to the Mines Department. 

LXXVII 

The Minister of Mines shall cause the following statistics to be 
made public: 

(a) the quarterly financial return from each district; 

(b) the output from each district; 

(c) the number of persons employed above and below ground; 

(d) the cost per ton of getting and distributing coal, showing 

proportion due to wages, material, management, interest, 
and profit; 

(e) the amount of coal produced per man per shift; 
(/) the amount of absenteeism. 

LXXVIII 

Pending the acquisition of the coal mines by the State, the col- 
liery owners shall continue to have and be subject to the rights 
and liabilities conferred and imposed upon them by the Coal Mines 
Control Agreement (Confirmation) Act, 1918, or any statutory 
provision that may be substituted therefor as suggested in the 
Interim Report of the 20th March presented by me and my three 
colleagues, or otherwise. 



COAL INDUSTRY COMMISSION ACT 439 

(v) Safety, Health, and Research 

LXXIX 

For providing for safety, health, and research there shall be a 
corps of officers, as set out in the following paragraphs. 

LXXX 

For safety, the present system of Chief Inspector and Divisional 
Inspectors shall be continued, and such inspectors shall continue to 
perform the same duties as their predecessors, but the number of 
inspectors shall be increased and shall be in proportion either — 
(i) to the area, or 

(ii) to the number of men employed, as, for example, one 
inspector to, say, 5,000 men. 



LXXXI 

The appointment of such safety inspectors shall be made by the 
Minister of Mines, to whom the inspectors shall report and be 



LXXXII 

For health, there shall be appointed central and local inspectors 
of health as distinguished from safety, who shall be charged with 
the superintendence of the health and convalescence of colliery 
workers. 

LXXXIII 

The appointment of such health inspectors shall be made by the 
Minister of Mines, to whom the inspectors shall report and be 
be responsible. 

LXXXIV 

For research, there shall be attached to the Ministry of Mines 
a Research Section for the purpose of carrying out departmental 
research work in safety, health, and economies in mining. 

LXXXV 

The appointment of such research staff shall be by the Minister 
of Mines. 



440 THE JUDGMENT 

(vi) Admiralty Coal 

LXXXVI 

The Admiralty and the War Office shall be entitled to requisi- 
tion coal at any mine at a pit-head price equal to the lowest price 
charged to any consumer. 

(vii) The Export Trade 

LXXXVII 

Any person shall be entitled to purchase coal for export from 
any mine in the same way as he would have been entitled had 
such mine remained in private ownership. 

LXXXVIII 

The State shall not make or give any undue or unreasonable 
preference or advantage to, or in favor of, any particular persons 
desirous of purchasing coal for export, nor shall the State subject 
any particular person desirous of purchasing coal for export to 
any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage whatsoever. 

LXXXIX 

Any exporter to whom coal is sold for export shall divide all 
profits over is. per ton equally with the District Mining Council. 

John Sankey. 
20 June, 1919. 



CHAPTER II 

GOVERNMENT OFFER TO RAILWAYMEN 

Mr. James H. Thomas, secretary of the National Union of Rail- 
waymen, announced on November 16, the Government scheme of 
" joint control." 

He said that there would be a Joint Board composed of 5 gen- 
eral managers and 5 railwaymen (3 from the National Union of 
Railwaymen and 2 from the Associated Locomotive Engineers 
and Firemen). This corresponds to the old conciliation boards, 
though with wider terms of reference. 

A Committee of Appeal, composed of 12 members— 4 represent- 
ing the men, 4 the companies, 4 the public, and an independent 
chairman. This corresponds to the old Arbitration Boards, Com- 
mittee on Production, Industrial Commissions, and Wages Boards. 

Local committees for local disputes. 

Four railwaymen to join the Railway Advisory Committee, 
which is composed of 12 general managers. This representation 
has been granted for years in certain industries. 

Over all this remains in control the Ministry of Transport. 

In making the announcement of this Government scheme, Mr. 
Thomas said: 

" Now, it is first proposed to set up a joint board on the railways — 
on each railway, not on each system, but a board composed of five 
general managers and five from the Associated Locomotive Engineers 
and Firemen and the N. U. R. Three of these latter five will 
represent ourselves, and two will act for the Associated Enginemen. 
These ten people will be charged with the responsibility of conducting 
negotiations in connection with the conditions of service. Nothing 
whatever will be exempted from their consideration. That is to say, 
we have not the old boggle of limiting ourselves to hours and wages. 
The ten — five from each side — will have plenary powers, but only in 
the sense that the men's side would be subject to their Executive 
Committee. In the event of their failing to agree they will have the 
right to call in another body. 

" It is no use disguising the fact that, in the event of a railway 
dispute, there is a great public opinion. That ought to be considered, 

441 



442 THE JUDGMENT 

and in the event of a failure on the part of these ten (five from 
either side) they will be able to refer the matter to another body of 
twelve— four from the men, four from the railway companies, and 
four from the public. But the working men are as much the public 
as the capitalists are, and therefore, as regards two of the four, one 
will be a Trade Unionist not connected with the railways and another 
will be a representative of the great co-operative movement. In other 
words, you will be able to bring to the review of your case a tribunal 
on which the public will be represented. There will be an independent 
chairman. We want you, however, clearly to understand that, while 
they will be in a position to give recommendations and to advise and 
suggest, neither body will have the power of taking away the right to 
strike so far as the men are concerned. But obviously we would not 
strike while a matter was being considered. 

" That, in my judgment, is a first step towards some real machinery 
for dealing with working conditions. But as railwaymen you know 
perfectly well that there are thousands of things that happen locally 
that are not national, but are peculiar to a district of a town or a 
particular grade. In addition to what I have said, there will be set 
up local machinery that will enable you locally to meet an equal 
number of the managerial side and deal in the same way with all 
local grievances that may arise. This will be of paramount impor- 
tance to you, and will enable you to feel that you have some machinery 
in connection with which, on questions of discipline, you will have a 
free and absolute right of bringing in as your advocate not an 
employee of the company, but your own Trade Union official, whoever 
he may be, and chosen as you desire. That, so far, will be your new 
machinery. 

" But I have always believed, and I still believe, that the working 
classes can give by their practical experience, by their knowledge, and 
by their everyday work, something to the better government of any 
business. I deny the possession of a monopoly of brains by the 
employing classes, whoever they are, and I have never hesitated to 
affirm that to general management the workers could contribute much. 
Therefore, in addition to the scheme that I have just outlined, dealing 
with hours and wages, three members, two from our Union and one 
from the Associated Union, will join the Railway Advisory Com- 
mittee, with co-equal powers to the general managers who sit there 
themselves. 1 

"That is not only an innovation, not only a new departure, but it 
enables you to compare the position now with the position a few 
brief years ago, when, in Bristol, I was pleading for what is called 

1 Later, 4 members (one from the Clerks). 



GOVERNMENT OFFER TO RAILWAYMEN 443 

official recognition. It is a change for the good. It shows the power 
of organized Labor, and it is up to you to prove that the experiment 
can be justified. 

" While I should be foolish to suggest that this scheme will render 
strikes impossible, I must seriously say that the new machinery, if 
properly worked in a fair and genuine spirit on both sides, will do 
much to make Trade Unionism not only a means of improving the 
men's condition, but also to insure smooth working on the railways 
of the country. 

" I hope and believe that the railwayrnen will accept the scheme not 
as their final goal, not as the last word, but as one more stepping- 
stone in the path that will enable us to say that as workers we have 
co-equal power and co-equal authority in management. I hope also 
that within a few weeks we shall be able to make an announcement 
about the new standard conditions, but I would ask you to keep 
clearly in mind the difficulty that we have to face owing to the 
multiplicity of grades and companies. We must stabilize as far as 
possible on one basis. The statements you have heard recently about 
the cost of living coming down are mere moonshine. I am convinced 
the tendency in the coming winter will be the other way. It is no 
use talking about the old pre-war standard. The railwayrnen intend 
to keep the Prime Minister to his word. It is our duty to be not 
only audacious, but our right to share in the new heaven and the new 
earth that politicians have long promised us. 

" The workers have to realize that side by side with their industrial 
machine must they have political action. The results of the municipal 
elections, the results of our own strike, and the consolidation of 
Labor are a clear indication that before long Labor is destined to 
govern this country." 

On December 8, 1919, Sir Eric Geddes, on behalf of the Gov- 
ernment, announced: 

" 1. The present negotiations of wages. — On this no public statement 
can yet be made. I fully appreciate the anxiety of the House, and 
will make a statement at the earliest possible moment. 

" 2. An arrangement has been come to between the Government and 
the two unions concerned in the conciliation grades on the railways 
that, apart from the present negotiations, questions of wages and 
conditions of service shall, during the period of the present control of 
raihvays under the Ministry of Transport Act, be dealt with by a 
central board, consisting of five railway managers and five repre- 
sentatives of the trade unions, the latter being composed of three 
from the National Union of Railwayrnen and two from the Associated 



444 THE JUDGMENT 

Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, with power to each 
side to add a sixth member. Failing agreement by this central board, 
matters in dispute falling into the category mentioned — wages and 
conditions of service — will be referred to a national wages board, 
consisting of four railway managers, four railway workers, or their 
representatives, and four users of railways, of which one shall be 
nominated by the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union 
Congress, one by the Co-operative Union, one by the Federation of 
British Industries, after consultation with other industrial organiza- 
tions, and one by the Association of Chambers of Commerce after 
similar consultation, with an independent chairman appointed by the 
Government 

" It has been agreed by the unions concerned that no strike shall 
take place on account of a dispute arising on these matters until one 
month after the question in dispute has been referred to the National 
Wages Board. Local committees, to which matters of purely local 
and other than national importance are to be referred, will be set up, 
and discussions are taking place at the present time as to their con- 
stitution, scope, and function. 

"3. The third matter which is forming the subject of conversation 
by railwaymen is their representation in connection with the control 
exercised under the Ministry of Transport Act. The Railway Execu- 
tive Committee as such will cease to exist, probably on January i, 
and an advisory committee will then be set up, which will consist of 
twelve general managers and four representatives of the workers." 

Will the new Railway Advisory Committee really run the rail- 
ways? On December 10, 1919, Sir Eric Geddes said: 



" During the war the railways were under the control of the Gov- 
ernment, but, in fact, they were self -controlled, because the machinery 
through which the Government exercised its powers was placed in 
the hands of the General Managers of the Companies. From 1st 
January, 1920, the control, in so far as it now exists, will be exercised 
by the Ministry of Transport, and the financial checking, which had 
been so ably carried out by the Companies on each other on behalf 
of the Government during the war, will now, to a greater extent, be 
supervised by the Ministry and its financial officers. Instead of there 
being, as some people theught, a greatly-increased control, the rail- 
ways will, to a greater extent, be controlled by their own management. 
It will be necessary, under the present abnormal conditions, that the 
State should take a very large part of control in the wages question 
and in rates and fares." 



GOVERNMENT OFFER TO RAILWAYMEN 445 

So this Railway Advisory Committee will not run the railways, 
but will make suggestions. Sidney Webb states that railway 
directors with whom he had talked believe that the system will 
be turned back into private hands within a couple of years. Sir 
Henry Thornton, a member of the Railway Advisory Committee, 
has made this public statement: 

" Nationalization of the railways is now only a remote possibility. 
On the resumption of normal conditions British railways will be 
operated upon a plan that lies between nationalization and private 
ownership. The individual companies will continue to administer the 
separate lines with representatives on and acting in conjunction with 
a central board, composed of Government representatives and repre- 
sentatives of railway labor. The new scheme will come into operation 
in about eighteen months." 



SECTION V 

THE PUBLIC 

CHAPTER I 

THE ENGLISH MIDDLE CLASS 

The Middle Class has long been in control of English life. It is 
possible now to write its history and show its qualities. And it is 
possible because the Middle Class is passing. Lying between lords 
of the soil and laboring men, or great nobles and rabble, or. wealthy 
and poor, or cultured and uneducated, or capitalists and artisans, 
" The Middle Class is that portion of the community to which 
money is the primary condition and the primary instrument of 
life." For all my quotations (except where otherwise stated) I 
am indebted to a recently published volume on The English Middle 
Class, by R. H. Gretton, author of The King's Government. 

The first stirrings of consciousness in the Middle Class came in 
the thirteenth century when " the conception of profit began to 
replace that of payment for the exercise of skill. Among the 
actual workers at a trade the weavers probably set on foot the 
change. Some of them, instead of weaving the wool brought to 
them, and then handing it over to the fuller and the dyer, would 
conceive the idea of buying wool, weaving it, paying the fuller and 
the dyer to work upon the fabric without handing over possession, 
and finally taking it back to sell at an inclusive price which was 
not merely the cost of the three processes." 

" Now here we have at work a clearly financial conception, that 
of trading profit. It depended upon a new idea of the power of 
money. To put the case baldly, the possession of money by one 
man was seen to be an opportunity for taking advantage of 
another man who had none." 

Inside the realm of King and lords, Church, yeomen, and peas- 
ants, there grew and spread this new secretive inexpressive estate 
of the Middle Class. Always keen in its instinct for profits, and 
in its class consciousness, it perceived as early as the fifteenth 

446 



THE ENGLISH MIDDLE CLASS 447 

century "the possibility of another kind of localizing of profits, 
keeping them, not to this or that town so much as to a certain 
stratum of the community." So developed two germs of evil — 
" one, the creation of a wholly dependent working class, and the 
other the sanction of trading monopoly." 

" The change of the fifteenth century was that the capitalist 
clothier owned the looms upon which the cloth was made, and the 
weaver sank to the status of a hired man. As long as he possessed 
his own loom he could work independently; when he used one of 
a number of looms belonging to the clothier he had entered upon 
the factory system." 

" We discern in the Middle Class at its origin a quality which it 
has never wholly lost, in spite of many modifications. Its instinct 
was to live in a narrow circle, to keep trading profits in the hands 
of a group, to make town administration a closely limited entity, 
to do anything rather than throw experience into the common 
stock. ... It had no brains for anything that happened outside 
the limits of a known group of persons." 

A gray layer of nondescript people inserted between the landed 
aristocracy and the laboring class, it appropriated some of 
the " rights " of those whom it shoved to either side. As it rose 
into power, it pushed the guild journeyman down into a wage- 
earning artisan, and induced him to part with his small freehold 
and become a tenant by rent. Industrially and socially the Middle 
Class by establishing itself at the center of the currency system 
helped to perpetuate the lower class. It plays for its own integ- 
rity to be bothered as little as possible by national and civic affairs, 
to dodge individual assessments which would reveal its wealth and 
therefore its power. Shy of public appearance, content for long 
with wealth, leisure and security, though later risking security to 
gain social recognition, at all times to the present day it has 
guarded the hen that lay the golden eggs. And the hen was the 
control of the money. With money, it bought skill, took over 
the ownership of tools and machines, established itself on the land 
and took rent, controlled the product of labor and therefore the 
profits, and by the manipulation of money appropriated interest. 

In return for exacting this various tribute from the community, 
it fulfilled essential functions. In the higher values, it laid the 
foundation of grammar schools and aided in developing endowed 
schools and free education. It contributed to the building of the 



U8 THE PUBLIC 

great cathedrals and the exquisite parish churches. It failed in the 
spacious Elizabethan days to rise to true national consciousness 
and so failed to give great names in artistic and patriotic expres- 
sion in an age of great names (Sidney, Shakespeare, Raleigh, 
Drake, Jonson, Frobisher, Bacon, Pembroke). But at a later time, 
the neutral leisure of the Middle Class, with its detachment from 
the common weal, served it well, for in its irresponsibility (some- 
times with the aid of the fixed independent income of which 
Darwin speaks) " it produced men who led the way to making lit- 
erature and art professions for men of genius, and not mere 
dependencies of the rich." Soon, to be sure, its scions bit the hand 
that fed them, and " the artists, the poets, the novelists of the 
nineteenth century were nearly all middle-class men who turned 
more or less bitterly upon their origins, and helped to heap scorn 
upon the Middle Class." 

For long, there was practically only one kind of Middle Class — 
a middleman class. Then it split up into large Capitalists who 
were landowners as well as merchants; a lower rank of traders; 
lawyers; secretaries and clerks. "Craft jealousy and secretive- 
ness being translated into the sheer competitive individualism 
which was increasingly to characterize the Middle Class. But it 
was the same secretive spirit in a new form." 

" The Middle Class could stand for nothing, because it had al- 
ways stood for itself alone." 

Inexpressive in art and warfare, aloof from politics, devoid of 
national consciousness, unimaginative, unheroic, without logic, 
without science, it has moved on its middle way, serving England, 
developing trade and commerce, adapting itself to new frontiers, 
fulfilling the necessary function of shopkeeper through changing 
eras, providing a framework upon which the national life broad- 
ened down from age to age, linking a mixed society, and " keeping 
things together " for six centuries. 

When the twelve million of needy wage-earners can no longer 
.find work to do or bread to eat, will " an upheaval far more terrific 
than all the convulsions that rent revolutionary France sweep away 
the colossal fabric of England's decaying civilization like a wisp 
of straw " ? The rule of the Middle Class has never led to bloody 
revolt of the sort let loose in the France of 1789 by the rule of 
the nobles. The reason is clear : 

" The position of privilege in England was a conscious one, 






THE ENGLISH MIDDLE CLASS 449 

built up by deliberate, if not wholly intentional, stages; the position 
of privilege in France was one of unconscious, unthinking isola- 
tion. The French nobleman believed himself to be by divine provi- 
dence where he was ; the English nobleman never attributed to 
the Deity the victories of his own self-assertion. These differ- 
ences had, in the lower ranks of the population of either country, 
their corollaries. In England there always existed, in however 
strained a condition, a tie of mutual comprehension which was 
lacking in France. In the ordinary course of events this tie may 
have amounted to very little. But at a crisis, it would come into 
operation to prevent that feeling of conflict with a force entirely 
beyond reason which drove the French nation headlong. The Eng- 
lish populace, without ever formulating the situation to themselves, 
felt that they understood the basis of the superiority of their own 
upper classes; and for all the appearance of exclusiveness, it was 
not a superiority behind absolute barriers. The barriers were in 
the last resort only relative. There was no claim to any incom- 
prehensible ' natural ' rights ; there was only property, held in a 
way which any Englishman could understand." 

It is the persistence of ancient upper class institutions in an age 
that is Middle Class industrial, which has diverted the observer 
into thinking that the upper class is in control of the State. But 
the Middle Class has always behaved like the gentle snail which, 
adrift in a hard world, slinks into the nearest shell, which had 
once been the home of a quite other organism. With the exception 
of the Cromwell episode, the Middle Class has never attempted to 
set up middle-class institutions, preferring to handle existent insti- 
tutions " in such a manner as to find a sheltered area for personal 
profit under them. It abandoned the attempt to make a middle- 
class state, and successfully proceeded to make the State Middle 
Class." 

It left the old constitutional forms and social organization stand- 
ing, with the result that the nation regarded political movements 
as the movements of Lords and Commons, instead of the acts of 
rich merchants. For over two hundred years, the Middle Class 
has influenced public affairs from behind the screen of old forms; 
and the upper class of landed gentry, university men and Estab- 
lished Church has been held responsible in the public mind for the 
operations, actually carried through by the Middle Class. Those 
operations included privileged trading, seizure of the land, manipu- 



450 THE PUBLIC 

lations of taxation, processes of stockbroking. Middle Class life 
became an avenue to rank and station. Trade was a source of 
wealth instead of a co-operative enterprise. Wages were not a 
participation in profits, but the basis of the money-making machine 
that ground out profits for a master-class at long distance remove 
from the workers. Individualism was thus economic, as well as 
moral and political in the Middle Class. " By subscribing to a 
public loan they drew interest out of the national needs — the final 
triumph of their many manipulations of the taxes." This com- 
pleted the process of making England a Middle Class State, be- 
cause the security for her finances ceased to be directly the land 
or personality and became trading credit. And trading credit it 
has remained even through these years of war. With trading 
credit comes the National Debt, devoid of tangible security, based 
on the national income and structure of credit — a charge against 
the labor power of the nation, and therefore a mortgage on the 
productivity of the workers held by the Middle Class. 

A modern authority on trade states: "The supremacy of the 
commercial classes was not favorable to peace. They were bitter 
and blood-thirsty in the competition for new markets." The army 
was put on a business basis, and " the Middle Class found in it, as 
it had managed by degrees to find in most things to which it had 
once objected, sufficient scope for money-making." There were 
opportunities in contracting for supplies, in profits on army loans, 
in a new career for its sons. 

English aristocracy is a recent affair. Omitting entirely the 
mushroom growth of business lords, such as Lord Leverhulme, the 
late Lord Rhondda, and Lord Northcliffe, who are simply Lord 
Morgan, the Duke of Rockefeller, and Earl Harriman, we have 
the fact that practically there are no English titles older than the 
early Tudor period, and " the highest Class of the eighteenth cen- 
tury was made up principally of the families which had risen in 
the first land speculation of the Middle Class." 

By the eighteenth century it " entirely colored the national out- 
look and virtually controlled policy. ... It only gave advance- 
ment to brains in so far as they were employed upon affairs of 
money. . . . The upper class had become predominantly Middle 
Class in substance. The lower class — the workmen, artisans, and 
laborers — were securely enchained. Administration was in the 
hands, or at least at the service, of the masters of trade and 



THE ENGLISH MIDDLE CLASS 451 

industry; the ancient rights and safeguards of the workman had 
been deliberately allowed to become obsolete." 

The American civilization, like that of the English, is Middle 
Class. The ruling class with us is " that portion of the community 
to which money is the primary condition and the primary instru- 
ment of life." Middle class psychology colors our national outlook 
and controls our policy, gives advancement to brains in part as 
they are employed upon affairs of money, directs the workmen, 
artisans, and laborers, stands at the levers of the giant machinery 
of production and administration. The difference is that we have 
no ancient screen of Church and landed gentry and Crown and 
Lords to cover the operations with the mediaeval mistiness of 
blurred tapestry. Slowly with us, too, the fight defines itself as 
one between the Middle Class, entrenched by its control of the 
currency, and those members of the community who aim at demo- 
cratic control. The Middle Class is losing power, because it has 
allowed machinery to gather large masses of workers in cities and 
so has created a counter-organization. 

Ownership of land and possession of titles made an upper 
British Middle Class. " Gentility became simply a description 
of a certain command of the conveniences and luxuries of 
existence." And the upper stratum dissociated itself from its 
origins and from the processes by which it had made money. 
Under this upper stratum the modern manufacturers thrust into 
prominence, laying hold of power because they had money through 
their control of machinery, coal, and iron, the new banking sys- 
tem, and the subdivisions of labor. " The brief by-product in 
England of the Rennaissance of Learning expired as soon as the 
Middle Class had decided upon gentility as its goal." Never at any 
time in its long history has the Middle Class possessed appreciation 
of the intellect. We are prone to indict the nineteenth century for 
its commercialized and scornful estimate of pure thought, research, 
artistic creation, moral values. But that is only because the Middle 
Class entered upon the full control of society in the nineteenth 
century. In its earlier history, also, it had believed that " to expect 
to gain a livelihood by one's brain otherwise than in using it for 
the production of commodities was impertinent." From the mer- 
cantilism of the eighteenth century to the industrialism of the nine- 
teenth and twentieth centuries was no great jump, economically, 
nor did it require violent mental adjustments. The secretive indi- 



452 THE PUBLIC 

vidualistic psychology of the Middle Class merely became visible 
to observers for the first time in seven centuries. 

What the nineteenth century did accomplish was to render more 
distinct and aristocratic the upper stratum of the Middle Class. It 
looked down upon the busy uneducated modern capitalists and 
traders and industrial masters, with their exploitation of wage- 
workers and their conception of England as a successful trader. 
The upper stratum finally separated itself so thoroughly from its 
origins as itself to use the title Middle Class for those same capi- 
talists, traders, and industrial masters. It was no idle dream that 
made certain Tory statesmen force a union of the workers and the 
landed gentry against that dull ungracious strenuous element in 
the community to which money was the primary condition and the 
primary instrument of life, which shirked public service and con- 
tributed few generous ideas and sentiments to either local or na- 
tional life. Thus in its old age, the Middle Class was left naked 
in the sight of its enemies, and its form and lineaments were felt 
to be unlovely, its philosophy dreary, its power unjust. Increas- 
ingly it is losing control of the nation. It is no answer to this 
fact of its diminishing power to say that money has become so 
usual that we are all Middle Class to-day. The new forms of 
social reconstruction, the principle of democratic control, are not 
making money the primary condition and the primary instrument 
of life. They seek to establish the principle of function as the 
basis of society. If successful, they will abolish the Middle Class. 

The fight of the worker to-day is not against the landed gentry, 
the ancient Universities, the Established Church — the institutions 
of an upper-class system. The real fight of the worker is against 
the Middle Class, which secretly and pervasively has been the 
actual governing class. It is the governing class because it is in 
control of the economic system which conditions the life of the 
community. It had swept away the resistances and had under- 
mined the institutions of the upper class, because it had control 
of money, the primary instrument of industrial organization. It 
wasn't democracy that destroyed the Old England — democracy, 
that noisy, frank, easily observed foe of caste. It was the ap- 
parently innocuous, gently encroaching Middle Class that attacks 
from the rear in undetected ways: the faithful pious plodding 
Middle Class — the backbone of England — full of domestic virtues, 
excellent in individual conduct. 



THE ENGLISH MIDDLE CLASS 453 

It has always succeeded in the past in conquering opposition 
by permeating it. But its sly methods are powerless against the 
principle of democratic control. " At the core of most of the 
modern attacks upon the Middle Class domination of the State lies 
a conception of a national organization without currency. So- 
cialism and Collectivism proceed on an assumption that in the 
perfect State there would be no coinage of intrinsic value, but 
only some form of token for work done, exchangeable against a 
supply of the necessaries of life. In other words, in order to get 
rid of a Middle Class, it would be necessary, on these theories, 
to get rid of what we understand at present by currency; which 
is, from the reverse side, a striking confirmation for our theory 
that currency has created the Middle Class." The critique of the 
National Guildsmen on the wage-system is an expression of the 
same instinctive attack on the Middle Class. Against this assault, 
the Middle Class is powerless, because it is being deprived of its 
only weapon. 

Under the amazing economic shifts of the war, the phrase 
" middle class " has quite ceased to be a true distinction of rank, 
and " has become virtually a description of character." How 
could it be otherwise when the tax rate opens its ponderous jaws 
ever wider toward the conscription of riches? The movement 
towards " workers' control " grows stronger with each year, and 
workers' control is not a power given by the instrument of money, 
but by the exercise of function. 

In making a description of character, we have a right to 
wander freely in the fertile fields of social psychology. For 
middle class is the tag we use for labeling what is offensive, 
unimaginative, blandly complacent, Puritanic, materialistic, com- 
mercialized, and humdrum, in recent civilization. The Middle 
Class has built for its workers and for itself what Emile 
Hovelaque calls " the monotonous succession of smoke-grimed 
cubes of brick, all similar and sordid, a symbol of the sordid 
similar lives they shelter; the endless lines of wretched homes 
which all round London, all over the greater industrial centers, 
endlessly repeat, with the insistence of a maniac, their somber 
invariable rectangles, cluster on cluster, mile after dreary mile of 
mean and crushing hideousness, as though some spawn of insect 
life had settled there and swarmed. Is it in order to produce an 
architecture no higher than that of a coral reef, to bring into 



454 THE PUBLIC 

God's light such forms of life, such visions, such monotonies of 
hideous depression that a society is born?" 

Spiritually how has it been with the Middle Class? It has re- 
vealed " the epic of the Will which all English history unfolds." 
It possesses the somber Sunday, day of rest and sadness, moral 
virtues, earnestness, a prim conventionality, a sense of duty some- 
times leaden in its petty severities, sometimes resolute in its 
heroism, narrowness, love of action, the love of home and the 
passion for adventure, " a gospel of conduct which," as Hovelaque 
says, " can give its disciples the possession, not only of this world 
but of the next, a monopoly of salvation and of Trusts — an 
extraordinary mingling of practical and religious impulses, in turn 
pitilessly realistic, and profoundly mystical, at once selfish and 
disinterested, which inspire the soul of a Cromwell or a Cecil 
Rhodes." The roots of the spiritual strength of the Middle Class 
have been " in its Faith, and they draw their nourishment from 
that extraordinary book, the Bible, whose fortune in England has 
been so startling, and whose influence on the destinies of the 
race all recognize." 

As we speak the phrase " Middle Class," we see rise the mis- 
shapen Chapel in a mean street, we hear the wheezing organ 
lifting the hymn. We remember denunciation of Papists and the 
immoral French. We see severity and ugliness, indifference to 
ideas, a distrust of beauty. Arnold and Arnold Bennett have done 
their work well. As in our use of " Mid-Victorian," we are ex- 
pressing a revolt. A good deal of what critics are banging at 
when they chastise England is " middle-classness." And middle- 
classness is not peculiar to England. The English form is merely 
a little more pious and a little drearier than that of other nations. 
We could write a volume on middle class as a description of 
character. But really what we should be writing would be the 
record not of a middle class, economically defined and placed in 
history, with a documented membership, but of our own subjec- 
tive reaction to modern industrial civilization. It is time to 
recognize that the Middle Class is losing its control of industrial 
civilization. 



CHAPTER II 

ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 

A certain few books must be read in order to catch even a 
glimmering of what is working out in Britain. For no hasty 
change is under way but a long-prepared event. From the thir- 
teenth century the ideas now prevailing have simmered and 
worked in British consciousness. These ideas were defeated and 
suppressed, but they were the projection of an ineradicable instinct, 
the instinct for equality. And now at last they emerge from their 
long subterranean burrowing, and become the " arbiters of event." 
The history of the next one hundred years will see these ideas 
shaped into legislation, built into institutions, and incarnated into 
an equalitarian society. To understand even a little of the British 
social revolution, now in its gentle prelude, one must at least have 
digested work of the Webbs, Graham Wallas, and the Ham- 
monds, and the reports of many committees and commissions. 

And for understanding one stream of the thought that is re- 
making Britain, we have Max Beer's History of British Socialism. 
The quotations that follow are from this work, of which one 
volume has already been translated into English. 

In his preface, Beer says: 

The English intellect, from its sheer recklessness, is essentially revo- 
lutionary, probably more so than the French intellect. But since 1688 
it has been the endeavor of English Statesmen and educators to impart 
to the nation a conservative, cautiously moving temper, a distrust of 
generalization, an aversion from carrying theory to its logical con- 
clusions. ... In periods of general upheavals, however, when the 
dynamic forces of society are vehemently asserting themselves, the 
English are apt to throw their mental ballast overboard and take the 
lead in revolutionary thought and action. In such a period we are 
living now. Since the beginning of the new Century a new England 
has been springing up. . . . The masses are joining issue with the 
classes upon the question of a redistribution of wealth and power. 
A new Chartist movement has arisen and is daily growing. 

455 



456 THE PUBLIC 

Political Socialist labor and revolutionary trades unionism 
have sought to substitute for the motive of personal profit and 
the method of unrestricted competition some principle of organi- 
zation more social and free. And the ideas back of this move- 
ment are, as R. H. Tawney says, " not antiquarian curiosities, but 
a high explosive, and an explosive which has not yet been fired." 

Beer says that his twenty years' residence in England taught 
him " how high an elevation of political and moral culture a nation 
must reach before it can embark on a socialistic reconstruction 
of society." All that makes the transfer of economic power in- 
evitable took place through long years. The final steps in the 
process were education, accessions to trade union organization, 
and the Electoral Acts. The machinery of economic and of po- 
litical power had thus been given to the working class. Remains 
only the Act of Transfer. A revolution is the spectacular and 
relatively unimportant ceremony of handing over the Keys of 
power to the new masters. If the real work has not been pre- 
viously accomplished, no bloody uprising can bring it to pass, no 
rule of a minority can maintain it. 

Beer deals with the argument of those who oppose next steps 
and social reforms on the ground that they take the place of 
fundamental measures. 

Strictly considered this argument is directed not only against 
parliamentary action, but against every kind of reform short of 
revolution. It may be applied to factory legislation, to social 
insurance, to trade unionism, and generally to all measures that 
are aiming at amelioration. The error into which William Morris 
fell, lay in regarding society as a mechanical contrivance, and reform 
as a sort of patching up some defective parts of the machine. This 
mode of viewing society allows of no other remedy than the complete 
removal of the old machine and its replacement by another of a quite 
different pattern. In reality, society is not a mechanical contrivance, 
but a living organism in constant change and development, an organi- 
zation capable of being developed into a higher form by legislation 
and other measures granted to a new class rising in importance and 
power in society. At first the influence of such reforms on the social 
structure may be imperceptible, but with the increase of the quantity 
of refcr-ms, the alteration in the quality of society grows apace, until 
it amounts to a revolutionary change, visible to all. Great social up- 
heavals which are designated revolutions are the effect of the sudden 
entrance of the revolutionary transformation into the region of poli- 



ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 457 

tics, or of the peremptory demand of a large portion of the nation 
to give legal effect to it and redistribute political power accordingly. 
The real revolution had been going on more or less silently for a long 
time anterior to the upheaval, but it having been split up in particular 
changes and reforms effected during long intervals, there was no con- 
siderable resistance to its growth. The revolution in its dramatic or 
sensational form is but an attempt to add up the particular changes 
and reforms and bring out the sum total. The revolutionary character 
of a reform does not depend on its volume and sweep, but on its 
direction and nature. In our time, for instance, any reform is revo- 
lutionary which tends to strengthen the working class and which makes 
for national control and centralization of the means of production, 
distribution, and exchange. 



Liberalism was the creed of the middle class : — Free trade, free 
speech, freedom of contract, freedom of the person. Liberal 
politics dies with the middle class; and the final line-up between 
the privileged and the disinherited begins. 

In recent years, books which have moved the masses, shaped 
their instinctive action, and prepared them for this final line-up, 
have been (among many) Fabian Essays and Tracts, Henry 
George's Progress and Poverty, Blatchford's Merrie England and 
Britain for the British, Chiozza Money's Poverty and Riches, 
Orage's National Guilds, Cole's Self Government in Industry. 

But these are only recent ripples of a tide that is age-long. 
Trade unionism as the instrument for overthrowing the economic 
system, rather than merely bettering the condition of the worker 
inside it — this is essentially British doctrine dating from the 
1830's. The conception held so earnestly by opponents is essen- 
tially a German conception. It believes in progressive betterment 
under the existing order. It derives from the German belief in 
the supremacy of the State, its unalterable nature, its perpetual 
unchanging sovereignty. The State to such minds is a foundation 
and a framework inside which the inhabitants may remodel the 
rooms, shift the furniture and decorate the walls. But they must 
not tinker with the underpinning. 

The British radical, however, has always challenged the su- 
premacy of the State from Gerrard Winstanley to Bertrand 
Russell. He has held that he could reconstruct the affair from the 
ground up, and build a more stately habitation for his soul. This 
quality of his mind is the result of a long process: 



458 THE PUBLIC 

From the thirteenth century to the present day the stream of so- 
cialism and social reform has largely been fed by British thought and 
experiment. Mediaeval schoolmen and statesmen, modern political 
philosophers, economists, poets, and philanthropists of the British Isles 
have explored its course and enriched its volume, but left it to writers 
of other nations to name and describe it. 

And the ideas which nourished this range and freedom of mental 
life go still further back to the Roman Empire and primitive 
Christianity. The doctrines of the state of nature and of natural 
rights are based on an idealization of the primitive conditions of 
tribal society. Private property and civil dominion appear as the 
origin of evil. In modified legal form, this became natural law 
(jus naturale). 

The philosophy of natural rights and natural law passed over 
into Christian theology. According to Saint Isidore of Seville: 

Jus naturale, is common to all nations and it contains everything that 
is known to man by natural instinct and not by constitutions and man- 
made law, and that is: the joining together of man and woman, pro- 
creation and education of children, COMMUNIS OMNIUM POS- 
SESSIO, ET OMNIUM UNA LIBERTAS, the acquisition of things 
which may be captured in the air, on the earth and in the water, resti- 
tution of loaned and entrusted goods, finally self-defense by Sorce 
against violence. 

This definition of jus naturale contains, says Beer, first, the 
usual characteristics as given in the Institutes; secondly, the doc- 
trines concerning the state of nature (communism and universal 
equal liberty). 

The influence exercised by that system of thought in the develop- 
ment of English, and generally European social and political specula- 
tions could hardly be overestimated. 

Thus, we have John Ball 1 (as quoted in Froissart), saying: 

*Died 1381. This was the age of the Peasants' Revolt. There was 
a later peasants' rebellion in 1449, with Jack Cade in command. Fifty 
years later, the Cornishmen rose, and in 1516 Sir Thomas More wrote 
his Utopia, a Communistic criticism of social conditions. In 1549 half 
of the English peasantry were in insurrection "to vindicate their 
natural right to the soil and to the fruits it yielded to their labor. It 



ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 459 

" My good people, — Things cannot go well in England, nor ever will, 
until all goods are held in common and until there will be neither 
serfs nor gentlemen, and we shall all be equal." 

By 1550, Communism lost its sanction in Church and State, and took 
refuge with the extreme wing of Nonconformity, revolutionary ration- 
alism, and working class organizations, while society at large moved 
towards individualism, whose first manifestation was the Elizabethan 
Age — an age of (pioneers, men of keen initiative. Its great inter- 
preters, Spenser and Shakespeare, were both anti-communist and anti- 
democratic. 

The Diggers or True Levellers led a revolt of ideas, beginning in 
1648. Gerrard Winstanley was the heart of the Digger Movement. 

The industrial revolution (dating from about 1760) was ag- 
gravated by the Napoleonic wars. 

The experience necessary to mitigate the miseries and pains attendant 
upon such a readjustment of society was wanting, and the empirical 
go-ahead, not to say recklessly daring nature of the English mind, was 
not apt to pause and inquire into the operation of the new economic 
phase the nation was entering upon. . . . The terrible decade 1810-20, 
the Luddites, the Spenceans, the Blanketeers, the conspiracies, Peterloo, 
and Cato Street, were largely due to the errors, perhaps inevitable 
errors, committed in the years from 1790 to 1800. 

The same agitated period saw the beginning of the independent 
political action of the working classes, the London Corresponding 
Society (L. C. S.) forming the preface of its history. The 
L. C. S. was formed in March, 1792. 

The L. C. S. constituted a sort of democratic and social reform 
seminary for labor leaders. From it issued most of the ideas and men 
that made themselves conspicuous in popular movements up to the year 
1820. Thomas Evans, leader of the Spenceans in the fateful years 
1816-18, Colonel Despard (executed for high treason in 1805), John 
Gales, later a supporter of Owen, Francis Place, and many others 
received their education or impulses from the L. C. S. The United 
Irishmen, when preparing for the insurrection, entered into communi- 
cation with its leaders. By the Corresponding Act, 1799, which pro- 
was the last great protest against the destruction of the village com- 
munities. Their defeat marks the turning point in the history of Eng- 
lish mediaeval communism." 



460 THE PUBLIC 

hibited all communication between political societies, the L. C. S. was 
suppressed but it had already done its work; the movement had spread 
to Lancashire and Yorkshire. 

In 1810, the Edinburgh Review diagnosed the condition of the 
nation in gloomy colors. 

The great body of the nation appears to us to be divided into 
two violent and most pernicious factions: the courtiers who are 
almost for arbitrary power ; and the democrats who are almost 
for revolution and republicanism. ... If the two opposite parties 
are once permitted to shock together in open conflict there is an 
end to the freedom and almost to the existence of the nation. 
In the present crisis, we have no hesitation in saying it is to the 
popular side that the friends of the constitution must turn them- 
selves. If the Whig leaders do not first conciliate and then restrain 
the people; if they do not save them from their leaders they are 
already choosing in their own body . . . the Constitution itself, 
the Monarchy, and the Whig aristocracy will, in no long time, be 
swept away. . . . The nation is on fire at the four corners. . . . 
That the number of democrats is fast increasing with a visible and 
dangerous rapidity, any man may satisfy himself by the common and 
obvious means of information. It is a fact which he may read legibly 
in the prodigious sale and still more prodigious circulation of Cob- 
bett's Register, and several other weekly papers of the same descrip- 
tion; he may learn it in every street of the manufacturing and 
populous towns in the heart of the country. . . . The storm is most 
evidently brewing over our heads at this moment, and if it cannot 
be dispersed before it burst upon them, we do not know where is 
our chance of being saved from destruction. 

In March, 181 2, Parliament passed a law for the protection of 
machinery, punishing Luddite actions with death, and in the sec- 
ond week of January, 1813, eighteen workmen died on the gallows 
at York. 

The City of London again became one of the foci of Liberal 
thought, and on December 9, 1816, the Common Council told the 
Prince Regent that the Government was corrupt and wasteful, and 
that the late war was unjust and senseless. Following Cobbett's 
cheap Register, a Radical and popular press, mostly weeklies, 
appeared, such as Wooler's Black Dwarf, John Wade's Gorgon, 
Carlile's Republican. 



ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 461 

Robert Owen was the central figure of British Socialism in the 
first half of the nineteenth century. The shrewd cotton spinner of 
New Lanark was reborn as a socialist. Private initiative, he saw, 
would give to the laboring poor neither education nor employment. 
The general diffusion of manufactures throughout a country generates 
a new character in its inhabitants. For the success of this legislative 
measure (the Factory Act), Owen worked for three years, until it 
was embodied, in form of a compromise with the opposing interests, 
in 1819. Owen says : " Manual labor, properly directed, is the source 
of all wealth and national prosperity." 

Owen, baffled in his ardent desire for immediate and tangible 
results, interfered with even in his educational experiments in New 
Lanark, failed to notice that he was making proselytes among intel- 
lectuals, stimulating several critics, and creating an Owenite school 
of thought destined to leave a deep impress on the movement of the 
working classes and their socialist leaders. 

The reign of George IV marks the rise of Liberalism and the birth 
of the modern Labor Movement, political and socialistic. . . . Cap- 
italism appeared to be on its trial — Socialism, at its birth, imbibed the 
dogma that industrialism meant short spells of prosperity, followed 
by chronic crises, pauperization of the masses, and the sudden advent 
of the social revolution. 

A boundless optimism pervaded the whole Owenite school, and it 
filled its adherents with the unshakable belief that the conversion of 
the nation to socialism was at hand or but a question of a few years. 

The best periodical publication of orthodox Owenism was The Co- 
operative Magazine (1826-30), which contains a great amount of con- 
structive matter. . . . This is a subject of one of their debates: 

" Would the arts and sciences flourish under the co-operative 
system ? " 

In these debates the term " Socialist " must have been coined. It 
is found for the first time in The Co-operative Magazine of November, 
1827. 

The policy of concession in preference to force becomes one of the 
main characteristics of the history of the relations between Liberalism 
and Labor. The idea of political equality, flowing from a purely 
doctrinal and humanitarian source, expresses itself in Parliamentary 
measures and softens the clash of antagonistic interests, which orig- 
inates in field, factory, and mine, and finds its expression in trade 
unionist action. Hence it comes that the economic action of Labor, 
in passing through the atmosphere of Liberal Parliamentary politics, 
loses its revolutionary edge and temper. The hard-bargaining and 
unsentimental capitalist-employer becomes in Parliament a Liberal, 



462 THE PUBLIC 

and the Revolutionary Labor leader, when elected to Parliament, turns 
into a reformer. This is the cause and source of the frictions between 
Labor in the workshop and Labor in Parliament. And this is the 
cause of the hatred of the ultra-conservative and the revolutionary 
against Liberalism. On the one hand, Liberalism facilitates the rise 
and movement of Labor, and is, therefore, hated and branded as 
subversive by Conservatives; on the other hand, Liberalism prevents 
the rising and moving working classes from falling into the extremes 
of purely economic and revolutionary action, and is, therefore, hated 
and branded as hypocritical, by Revolutionists. 

Coleridge wrote: 

We have game laws, corn laws, cotton factories, Spitalfields, the 
tillers of the land paid by poor rates, and the remainder of the popu- 
lation mechanized into engines for the manufactory of new rich men ; 
yea, the machinery of the wealth of the nation made up of the 
wretchedness, disease, and depravity of those who should constitute 
the strength of the nation. Meantime the true historical feeling, the 
immortal life of the nation, generation linked to generation by faith, 
freedom, heraldry, and ancestral fame, languishing and giving place 
to the superstitions of wealth and newspaper reputation. Talents 
without genius ; a swarm of clever, well-informed men : an anarchy of 
minds, a despotism of maxims. Hence despotism of finance in gov- 
ernment and legislation . . . and hardness of heart in political econ- 
omy. Government by clubs of journeymen; by saints and sinner 
societies, committees, institutions; by reviews, magazines, and above 
all by newspapers. 

And Beer goes on to say: 

The trend of conservative and religious minds towards mediaevalism 
became pronounced, as it always will in Christian countries in times 
of spiritual and social anarchy, or after a surfeit at the feasts of 
reason and materialist conceptions of nature and life. The great 
European minds have, since the Renascence, been oscillating between 
Olympus and Golgotha, moving to and fro in search either of happi- 
ness or redemption. 

In spite of the increase in the population of the towns the par- 
liamentary representation of the nation in 1830 remained the same in 
character as it was in 1760. The entire economic revolution appeared 
incapable of affecting the composition of Parliament in the slightest 
degree. Only the hardest thinkers of the Lancashire workers, in 
particular John Doherty, the leader of the textile operatives, dreamed 



ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 463 

of creating a political Labor Party with the trades unions for its 
units. According to this plan the local and district unions were to be 
affiliated for the sole purpose of dealing with matters affecting trades 
unions, but all the unions should together form a National Associa- 
tion to undertake the emancipation of the working class by means 
of parliamentary and socialistic action. This plan only became realized 
in the year 1899-1900 by the formation of the Labor Party. It is 
obvious that the founders of the Labor Party had no conception 
that seventy years earlier the idea of a similar organization had 
originated. At that time it remained a mere dream, for during the 
agitation for the Reform Bill the workers formed a part of the 
political union for the middle and working classes. 

The later months of 1831 saw the birth of the idea of a social- 
revolutionary general strike. At that time, 1831-32, Benbow 
owned a coffee-house at No. 205 Fleet Street, where he penned 
his pamphlet on the social-revolutionary general strike. It bears 
the title : Grand National Holiday and Congress of the Productive 
Classes. It appeared towards the close of 1831 or in January, 
1832, and was dedicated to the workers. 

It said: 

We suffer from over-population, so we are told. Good. Let us 
count ourselves ; let us find out the large numbers of the working men 
and the small numbers of the privileged class. 

We find the term the general strike for the first time in the 
Herald of Rights of Industry, April 5, 1834. 

Owen made the attempt to displace private industry and competition 
by means of peaceful co-operative establishments and wherever possi- 
ble by a union between the workers and the capitalists. The object 
of syndicalism was to expropriate the capitalists by continued hostili- 
ties and to get the factories, workshops, and agricultural industries 
into the hands of the trade unionists. 

Up to the year 1832 the trades union movement passed through the 
following stages of development: organization for the purpose of 
mutual support, organization of a single trade for the purposes of 
strikes and mutual support, finally organization of allied trades 
(trades unions). These economic unions were non-political; their 
members were either Tory or Whig, or adhered to Radicalism and 
vied with the members of the other classes in struggling for a 
definite political program. In any case, the economic unions of the 



464 THE PUBLIC 

workers only pursued aims which did not go beyond daily interests, 
and which did not seriously affect the stability of the prevailing 
system of society. 

From 1832 onwards the position was changed. The organized 
workers became anti-parliamentary for a time. They cut themselves 
off from parliamentary politics, not for the purpose of observing 
neutrality, but in order to fight against parliamentary action, and to 
attain by means of trades unions what had hitherto been only con- 
sidered possible of attainment by legislation. At the same time Robert 
Owen came on the scene with his anti-parliamentary views and placed 
before the trades unions the aim of converting society from capitalism 
to socialism by means of productive co-operation. 

Owing to its alliance with Owenism, trades unionism assumed a 
Utopian character antagonistic to its essential nature. The eco- 
nomically organized working class possessed no preconceived system 
of society. It regarded class warfare as a means of raising wages 
and lowering profits. For the time being it was not concerned 
with what would happen if the profits sank to zero. As soon as the 
struggle had strengthened the workers' organization sufficiently for 
them to checkmate capital, they would take over the business of 
production and would conduct it for the benefit of the workers. They 
are, to use Henri Bergson's or Belfort Bax's phraseology, alogical. 

The motto of the weekly, The Pioneer, was, " The day of our re- 
demption draweth nigh." Its editor was James Morrison, a young, 
self-taught operative builder, who began with Owenism and ended 
with syndicalism. Beyond all doubt, Morrison must be regarded as 
the originator of the syndicalist conception of class-antagonism on the 
part of the working-classes. 

It was proposed in 1833 t^ at a general congress, to sit in 
London, was to take the place of parliament and to regulate the 
production of the whole country. 

The Poor Man's Guardian (1832) wrote of this general period: 

A spirit of combination has grown up among the working classes 
of which there has been no example in former times. A grand 
national organization which promises to embody the physical power 
of the country, is silently, but rapidly progressing; and the object 
of it is the sublimest that can be conceived, namely — to establish for 
the productive classes a complete dominion over the fruits of their 
own industry. Heretofore, these classes have wasted their strength 
in fruitless squabbles with their employers, or with one another. They 
have never sought any grand object, nor have they been united for 
those they sought. To obtain some paltry rise, or prevent some paltry 



ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 465 

reduction in wages, has been the general aim of their turn-outs; and 
the best result of their combinations, even when successful, was 
merely to secure their members against actual want in the day of 
sickness, or of superannuation. These and the like objects were only 
worthy of slaves; they did not strike at the root of the evil; they 
did not aim at any radical change; their tendency was not to alter 
the system, but rather to perpetuate it, by rendering it more tolerable; 
nay, they in some respects only aggravate the evils of the workman's 
condition, as for instance, in benefit societies, of which the tendency 
is to pinch the bellies and backs of the contributors to the fund, in 
order to save the poor-rates, that is to say, the pockets of the affluent 
classes, from the just claims of brokendown industry. An entire 
change in society, — a change amounting to a complete subversion of 
the existing " order of the world " — is contemplated by the working 
classes. 

Beer's comment is that all this has a remarkably modern sound. 
In general, ever since 1833, the whole phraseology is modern. The 
terms social democrat, trades unionism, strike, general strike, 
bourgeoisie and proletariat, politics and anti-politics, class-warfare 
and solidarity of classes, etc., have been in general use ever since 
that period. Occasionally, and especially in reading The Poor 
Man's Guardian and the Pioneer, it is possible to imagine one's 
self transferred to the present day. 

The incompatibility between peaceful socialism and fighting 
syndicalism, hitherto hidden and unrecognized, began to make 
itself noticeable from about the end of 1833. 

The Crisis wrote — April 12, 1834: 

The immediate consequences of any attempt to crush the efforts of 
the popular mind, at this present juncture, will be a most resolute 
determination on the part of the people to legislate for themselves. 
This will be the result. We shall have a real House of Commons. 
We have never yet had a House of Commons. The only House of 
Commons is a House of Trades, and that is only just beginning to 
be formed. We shall have a new set of boroughs when the unions 
are organized ; every trade shall be a borough, and every trade shall 
have a council of representatives to conduct its affairs. Our present 
commoners know nothing of the interests of the people, and care 
not for them. They are all landholders. How can an employer 
represent a workman? There are 133,000 shoemakers in the country, 
yet not one representative have they in the House of Commons. 
According to the proportion they bear to the population they ought 



466 THE PUBLIC 

to have twenty-five representatives. The same is with carpenters and 
other trades in proportion. Such a House of Commons, however, is 
growing. The elements are gathering. The character of the Re- 
formed Parliament is now blasted, and, like the character of a woman 
when lost, is not easily recovered. It will be substituted by a House 
of Trades. 

A writer in the Pioneer (1834) said: 

. . . The growing power and growing intelligence of trades unions, 
when properly managed, will draw into its vortex all the commercial 
interests of the country, and, in so doing, it will become, by its own 
self-acquired importance, a most influential, we might say almost 
dictatorial, part of the body politic. When this happens we have 
gained all that we want; we have gained universal suffrage, for if 
every member of the Union be a constituent, and the Union itself 
becoming a vital member of the State, it instantly erects itself into 
a House of Trades which must supply the place of the present House 
of Commons, and direct the industrial affairs of the country, according 
to the will of the trades which compose the associations of industry. 
This is the ascendant scale by which we arrive at universal suffrage. 
. . . With us, universal suffrage will begin in our lodges, extend to 
the general union, embrace the management of trade, and finally 
swallow up political power. 

Again, another writer in the Pioneer (1834) said: 

Social liberty must precede political liberty. While we are in a 
state of social slavery our right would be exercised to the benefit of 
our tyrants, and we should be made subservient to the parties who 
work for us for their purposes. No, before the horse is turned out 
to enjoy freedom in the green meadow, he must be unharnessed from 
the shafts of the wagon; the galling rein that holds back his neck in 
the collar must be loosened, the bit must be taken from his mouth, 
and the collar itself from his shoulders; nor will he go forth 
in the valley rejoicing in his strength, while the limber of the gear 
hangs over his loins and encumbers his feet. To say, indeed, we shall 
never be free until we have universal suffrage is saying nothing more 
than we shall never be free until we are free. . . . Our position, 
brethren, is not political, and it cannot become political with any 
benefit to ourselves until we have found means to obtain a greater 
independent weight in society. This can only be the result of Unions. 

The workers tried to form the One Big Union — the "Grand 
National Consolidated Trades Union" (1834). 






ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 467 

The employers, the press, and the State, attacked it. The law 
courts convicted. Lock-outs and strikes exhausted some of the 
funds. Officials embezzled some of the rest. The labor leaders 
quarreled. In 1834, the One Big Union smashed. 

John Francis Bray sang the requiem of the syndicalist move- 
ment. 

He wrote: 

The capitalist and the employer have always ultimately been too 
strong for them; and trades unions have become, among the enemies 
of the working class, a by-word of caution or contempt — a record of 
the weakness of Labor when opposed to Capital — an indestructible 
memento of the evil working of the present system in regard to the 
two great classes which now compose society. 

Labor turned to an independent labor policy, socialist aims, 
peaceful and educational methods. At the end of 1835 the ap- 
proach of Chartism proper was perceptible. 

" Chartism " merely signifies democratic parliamentary reform. 
The Chartists aimed to seize the reins of government as quickly 
as possible : " Peaceably if we may — forcibly if we must." 

The People's Charter was originated in the year 1837 to 1838 
by the London Working Men's Association, and was drawn up by 
the joiner, William Lovett. The People's Charter was nothing 
more than a plain and clearly written Bill, containing the following 
six points in the form of sections and paragraphs: (1) Universal 
Suffrage,. (2) Equal Electoral Districts, (3) Abolition of Prop- 
erty Qualifications for parliamentary candidates, (4) Annual Par- 
liaments, (5) Ballot, (6) Payment of Members of Parliament. 

All the great manifestoes of Chartism, e.g., the Declaration of 
Rights of 1831 and 1839, the three petitions of the Chartists in 
1839, 1842, and 1848, refer to the law of nature as the irrefutable 
proof of the justice of their democratic demands. 

Chartism suffered up to the very last from the impossibility of 
conferring upon the masses a firm and unified organization, since 
the Corresponding Act (1817) did not permit of founding a na- 
tional organization with branch societies. 

" Chartism was not a movement of the lowest strata of society, 
but of the best elements of the industrial population." 

O'Connor said in 1839: — "Violent words do not slay the enemies 
but the friends of our movement." 



468 THE PUBLIC 

O'Brien had written in 1838: — "Is there any hope that without 
an entire change of the system the operative will be able to 
command a fair day's wage for a fair day's work? The thing is, 
in my opinion, impossible." 

Ulterior measures proposed included: 

1. Withdraw money from banks, and convert paper money into 
gold and silver. 

2. "Sacred month" (general strike). 

3. Refuse payment of rents, rates, and taxes. 

4. Arm themselves. 

5. Elect by show of hands. 

6. Boycott opposing newspapers. 

But the day of the workers had not come — not even for full 
political enfranchisement, and peaceful constitutional seizure of 
power. The Chartist movement flickered, flared, and finally died 
away. The leaders were harried; the rank and file dispersed. 
Organization had not perfected itself. There was lack of social 
knowledge. So economic power remained in the middle class, 
and, as the consequence, political power, the control of the State. 
Business men were the significant class. They knew what they 
wanted. They had obtained it. They continued to hold it. 

Reviewing what has been quoted, we see the origins of British 
Socialism in the instincts of the workers. We hear the recurrent 
expressions and explosions down the generations. We see the era 
of machinery working a suppression of those instincts, but at the 
same time creating slowly an organization of the wage-hands. 
We see them blindly rebelling against the machines, and tricked 
by electoral reform which still left them unenfranchised. We 
witness : 

The disillusionment of Labor and the consequent rise of revolution- 
ary trades unionism or Syndicalism (1833-34), the growth of Chartism 
or a Socialist Labor Party (1836-48); finally the rise of the Oxford 
movement, Young England and Christian Socialism — all this stu- 
pendous mental ferment in the years from 1825 to 1850 appears to be 
repeating itself now on a larger and higher scale. ... Or is it a 
mere coincidence that revolutionary trades unionism followed in the 
wake of the agitation for the Reform Bill, 1832, and that Syndicalism 
and general strikes have been treading upon the heels of the Con- 
stitutional crisis that began with Mr. Lloyd George's Finance Bill? 
. . . And is Tariff Reform destined to mark the close of the social 




ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 469 

ferment of the present day as the triumph of Free Trade marked 
the close of the Chartist era? . . . 

We have seen the idea of the general strike rising ninety years 
ago, the idea of industrial unionism, class war, of the Parliament 
of Producers, and of the Soviet representation. 

For the last nine years the revolutionary tides have been run- 
ning ever more strongly, and the war has heaped them still higher. 

In the old days, as Beer points out, " radicals " were rewarded 
in this fashion: 

In 1834 — William Godwin was appointed gentleman usher. 

In 1849 — Samuel Bamford was made doorkeeper at Somerset 
House. 

And now, in 1906 — John Burns entered the Cabinet. 

Economic power is swiftly passing to the workers, and so po- 
litical power registers the gain. Social knowledge is being placed 
at their disposal. But the urge is the same as that which drove 
the workers of 1830. The fundamental ideas remain. The buried 
life awakens. 

In the next section, we shall see Beer's estimate of the recent 
years. 

II 

(This second volume of Beer's book has not appeared in English) 

From the struggle and catastrophes between the beginning of 
Chartism in 1825 and its end in 1855, " the lesson emerged that 
the revolutionary policy of ' all or nothing/ of a sweeping 
triumph by one gigantic effort, of contempt for reform and the 
supreme value of a total and radical subversion of the old, were 
foredoomed to failure and defeat. The generation that followed 
Chartism went into Gladstone's camp and refused to leave it either 
for the social Toryism of Benjamin Disraeli or for the social 
revolution of Karl Marx." 

The period 1855-1914 was: 

(1) A ceaseless and more or less conscious struggle between 
Socialists and Liberals for the sympathies and votes of the work- 
ing classes. 

(2) The development of socialism from revolutionary doctrine 
to political practice. 



470 THE PUBLIC 

(3) The tendency towards the transformation of individualist 
liberalism into social liberalism. 

In 1884, John Burns called upon working men to rouse them- 
selves from the slumber in which they had been sunk since 1848. 
The economic depression which began in 1875 reached its lowest 
depths in 1886. The dockers' strike of 1889 brought Ben Tillett, 
Tom Mann, John Burns, Will Thorne, Annie Besant, Eleanor 
Marx, into leadership. 

" Four-fifths of the socialist leaders of Great Britain in the 
eighties had passed through the school of Henry George." 

1881 — The Social Democratic Federation, 1 founded by Henry M. 
Hyndman, later to become the British Socialist Party, and then 
to split further into the National Socialist Party (1916). 

1884 — The Fabian Society guided by Sidney Webb, the greatest 
mind in the labor movement of the last generation, perhaps the 
most important intellectual figure in British labor since Robert 
Owen. 

1893 — The Independent Labor Party, founded by Keir Hardie, 
and continued by Philip Snowden, Ramsay MacDonald, and 
others. 

1899-1900 — The Labor Party, in part guided by Ramsay Mac- 
Donald, and later also by Arthur Henderson and Sidney Webb. 

1903 — The Socialist Labor Party, founded by Scottish secession- 
ists from Hyndman's Social Democratic Federation, " after the 
model of the American Socialist Labor Party, led by Daniel De 
Leon (died 1914), an extreme Marxist, who in the last years 
of his life embraced syndicalist views." 

British socialism in its long history went through these 
phases : 

1. Primitive Christian traditions, Minorite doctrines, and vil- 
lage communities. " It bore a religious, ethical, and tribal char- 
acter." 

2. Constructing ideal commonwealths. " Its character was es- 
sentially romantic." 

3. Class war. " Unable to achieve reform, it rushed into the 
revolution. Strange are the mental processes of man. They lead 
him sometimes to the belief that, whilst he may be unable to 
achieve a little by daily efforts, he may accomplish everything by 

*In 1908, it became the Social Democratic Party. 



ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 471 

one supreme sacrifice. . . . Revolution is but the last act of a 
long evolutionary process, or the sum total of gradually accumu- 
lating reforms. Physical force is but an incidental phenomenon 
of revolution." 

4. The application of socialism to practical politics. " Its fore- 
most exponent is Sidney Webb. Its character is exclusively and 
consistently reformist. It has nothing to do with class warfare; 
it does not address itself to any class, but to enlightened public 
opinion." 

" The Fabian Society by its intimate connection with the I. L. P., 
by its affiliation to the Labor Party, by drawing to its work some 
of the most alert University Socialists, finally, by its close appli- 
cation to all live questions of socialism and labor, has, after 
thirty years of its existence, become the brain of the socialist 
movement of the United Kingdom." 

To Bernard Shaw and Sidney Webb, " the Fabian Society owes 
its importance in the history of British socialist thought." They 
gradually shook themselves free from the old socialist traditions, 
separating themselves from the doctrinal bases and propagandist 
methods of all socialist organizations. " Were his ardent tem- 
perament and dour determination not counterbalanced by an 
analytical intellect and sense of the ludicrous, Shaw would have 
been a revolutionary leader." 

" It makes no difference whether socialism is to be established 
by reasoning from the labor value theory and class struggle, 
which is Marxian, or from the theory of rent and collective effort, 
which is Fabian." * The point is to get the ideas and the phras- 
ing which are adapted to the community that is to be per- 
suaded. 

" Socialism had to be adapted to democracy. This adaptation 
has been performed by Sidney Webb. It represents the transi- 
tion from Marxism to Fabianism, or from social revolutionary 
doctrine to social practice." Conditions were ripe. The State 
was ready to enact social reform. The trade unions had won 
economic power. There was a public conscience on evils. " The 
magnum opus of Fabian reform is the Minority Report on the 
Poor Law. Socialism turns into a series of social reforms. The 
socialist agitator gives place to the social investigator." 

The attempts by strait sects and shibboleths and rigid abstrac- 
tions to force socialism down the throat of the British worker 



472 THE PUBLIC 

had not succeeded. Then, the Fabians and the I. L. P. came along, 
omitted the word socialism, used the British method of next step 
compromise and succeeded enormously. Out of their work come 
the Labor Party, where three and a half million trade unionists 
are pushing a socialist program, but it is a socialism of practice. 
" The speakers of the I. L. P., in their educational work among the 
trade unionists, hardly ever referred to revolution and class- 
warfare, but started from the ethical, nonconformist, and demo- 
cratic sentiments which appeal most to British workmen." 

As the I. L. P. waxed, the Social Democratic Federation waned 
— waned and finally split. It was not the day for dogmas and 
crashing finalities. The I. L. P. and a few Fabians are the dynamic 
of the Labor Party. " The Labor Party stands for social reform 
— for a socialistic re-organization of society by gradual steps, but 
it is not social revolutionary. It has no final goal, but immediate 
aims; it does not occupy itself with theories, but with practical 
measures. . . . The rise of the Labor Party meant the beginning 
of the end of Liberalism." 

" The years from 1908 to 1914 formed a period of social up- 
heaval which was essentially revolutionary." The war bred a 
further change, away from quiet permeation, and political practice, 
toward that increasing syndicalism which had been operating since 
1 910. Many of the young men began to want a stern code of 
action, with an ultimate aim and a Day of Judgment in it. A new 
fervor sweeps large masses, as the idea of workers' control seizes 
their imagination. They turn to the pure doctrine of Marx in 
labor colleges and study groups. So far as Britain is concerned, 
Marx has for the first time entered the region of practical politics. 
Once again the youths see themselves dramatically in the class 
war, at "the great historical moment." The vision that lifted 
itself in the 1830's, and died in 1848, has flashed again into their 
sight. 

The Clyde area in Scotland and the valleys of South Wales are 
two regions where the winds of doctrine now blow increasingly. 
In particular, " the simple, emotional, and enthusiastic nature of 
the Welsh working men was, and still is, averse from dilatory 
tactics and parliamentary methods; it expects sensational deeds 
in any popular agitation. Their temperament resembles that of the 
French proletariat, but it is nourished and stimulated by primitive 
Christian feelings rather than by logical inferences." 



ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 473 



The New Syndicalist Phase 

" The syndicalist movement or revolutionary trade unionism is 
differentiated from the socialist or collectivist movement by the 
emphasis it places (a) on the economic factor as the primary for- 
mative agent of social arrangements and social ethics, (b) on the 
economic antagonism between Capital and Labor, (c) on the 
direct action and struggle of the working class for its emancipa- 
tion from the wage basis of livelihood or for the control of the 
means of production by Labor itself, (d) on the trade union and 
not on the electoral district as the focus of Labor power. Syndi- 
calism, therefore, is averse from conciliation boards and industrial 
agreements between employers and employees; it recognizes no 
social peace or even truce as long as the wage basis prevails; it is 
opposed to parliamentary politics being made an integral and im- 
portant part of the labor movement; it scorns social reform by 
Liberal or Conservative or labor legislation; it refuses to believe 
in the efficacy of a labor policy acting through parliamentary 
representatives and labor officials. The syndicalist movement is 
pre-eminently revolutionary; the socialist movement is largely re- 
formist. The former puts itself deliberately outside the present 
system of society in order the better to get hold of it and to shake 
it to its very foundations ; the latter is working within the present 
order of society with the view of gradually changing it. The 
syndicalist knows therefore of no compromise; class warfare, 
relentless and continual, is his supreme means. Starting from the 
premise, (a) that economics rules social relations and shapes 
social ethics, (b) that the economic antagonism between Labor 
and Capital is irreconcilable, the syndicalist cannot arrive at any 
other conclusions." 

These principles may be termed the syndicalist form of 
Marxism. 

The first body to spread syndicalist views in Great Britain was 
the Socialist Labor Party in Scotland, whose members originally be- 
longed to the Social Democratic Federation but gradually came under 
the influence of the Socialist Labor Party in the United States of 
America and finally seceded from the S. D. F. in 1903. The leader 
of the American Socialist Labor Party was Daniel De Leon, a 
University graduate and a strict adherent of Marxism, who for a long 



474 THE PUBLIC 

time worked on the application of Marxist theories to the American 
Labor movement. 



The first symptoms of the operation of the new spirit manifested 
themselves in the rebellion of many trade unionists against their 
officials ; from 1908 onwards it became a difficult matter for the officials 
of many trade unions to obtain from their members the ratification 
of agreements and settlements entered into by them with the em- 
ployers. The British workman, generally loyal, conservative, and docile, 
began to refuse to follow his leader. Simultaneously some of the 
students of Ruskin College expressed their dissatisfaction with the 
spirit of the economic lectures delivered to them by some of their 
teachers and formed a Plebs League for the purpose of counteracting 
the influences which they thought served but the interests of the 
capitalists. The Plebs students formed a section of the Industrial 
Workers of the World and in 1909 seceded from the College and 
formed a Central Labor College, at first in Oxford, then in London, 
where the lectures and lessons are conceived in the spirit of the 
syndicalist form of Marxism. It is supported by the South Wales 
miners and railway men. 

The ideas of Industrial Unionism streaming- from America through 
Scotland into England were supplemented and strengthened by the cur- 
rent of syndicalism coming from France. After the excitement of the 
Dreyfus affair and the disappointment with the Socialist Minister 
Millerand, some of the Marxists and anarchists coalesced and turned 
the French syndicalists or trade unions into the revolutionary Con- 
federation Generale du Travail. French syndicalism has been more 
theoretical and philosophical than American Industrial Unionism, 
but in essence both of them represent the same revolt against so- 
cialist and labor parliamentarism and official-ridden and petty trade 
unionism. 

The French influence was brought to bear on the British labor 
movement by Tom Mann, who, after thirty years of truly Odyssean 
adventures in the trade union and socialist movement of Great 
Britain and the Colonies, went in June, 1901, to Paris in order to 
see syndicalism at work. He "was much impressed with the attitude 
of the revolutionary comrades in France, who had been able to 
accomplish a magnificent work by permeating the unions and forming 
the C. G. T." The journey to Paris was, however, by no means the 
hegira of Mann. Unconsciously to himself he had imbibed in Australia 
the spirit of the American I. W. W. His studies among the French 
workmen were but the finishing touches to his conversion. After his 
return from Paris he at once set to work to permeate the British trade 
unions, which, as Mann admits, for some five or six years previously 



ORIGINS OF BRITISH SOCIALISM 475 

had carried on " an agitation for the closer combination of the 
unions and for the adoption of different tactics." 



In the meantime, Tom Mann and his brother industrial unionists, 
among whom the most prominent was James Larkin, were exercising 
considerable influence on the strike movement of those years, in 
which the English transport workers, the British railwaymen, the 
British miners and the Irish transport workers played so conspicuous 
a part. Nothing like the general strike of the British miners in the 
spring of 1912 had ever happened before. A comparison of this strike 
movement with that of the years 1839-42 exhibits in an unmistakable 
manner the enormous advance British Labor has made in organizing 
and executive capacity. It is a growing and rising power; its activities 
are changing the structure of society. 



Interpretation and Adaptation of Syndicalism 

" Notable attempts at interpreting syndicalism and adapting it 
to British mental and material conditions have been made by 
several socialist intellectuals — G. D. H. Cole and a group of New 
Age contributors. Cole sees in the new Labor movement the 
inchoate expression of the desire of the more intelligent and 
alert workmen for the control of production. He argues that the 
socialist and labor parties and collectivist schools had been 
regarding the social problem first and foremost as a problem of 
distribution of the division of the national income. 

" The trade union should do for modern industry what the guild 
did for the mediaeval arts and crafts. Collectivism would form an 
industrial bureaucracy; syndicalism — an industrial democracy. 
Pending the consummation of this supreme end and aim, the 
workers, if they desired an improvement of their condition, should 
co-ordinate their forces, organize on the basis of industrial union- 
ism and use the weapon of the strike, since political action could 
achieve little, if anything at all. The Liberal reforms in the 
years from 1906 onwards, for all the praise bestowed on them by 
politicians, had practically done nothing to raise the conditions 
of Labor. The strikes from 191 1 to 1913 had raised wages, im- 
proved the condition of labor and increased the respect for the 
organized working class far beyond any so-called social reform 
legislation could have done. Where the strike failed it was due 



476 THE PUBLIC 

to the obsolete form of trade union organization. The day of the 
small union had passed. Large industry must be confronted with 
greater unionism. The small trade union was wasteful. Labor 
parliamentarism, as at present constituted, was a costly delu- 
sion." 



i 



CHAPTER III 

THE NEW CLASS OF GOVERNMENT SERVANT 

Mr. Graham Wallas, who was called as witness before the Coal 
Industry Commission, said: 

I am Professor of Political Science in the University of London, 
and was a member of the MacDonnell Commission on the Civil 
Service (1912-15). I am not a professed economist, but am familiar 
with some of the political and administrative arguments for and 
against " Nationalization." Many of the arguments which I have 
heard used against nationalization seem to me to involve a confusion 
between the results of large-scale organization and those of national- 
ization. The village carrier is impelled to be efficient by different 
motives from those which impel the State parcel-postman. But much, 
if not most, of that difference would also be found if one compared 
him with the man who delivers parcels for a large privately-owned 
railway company ; or if one compared a village shopkeeper with one 
of the employees of a multiple-shop company, or of the Co-operative 
Wholesale Society. 

Nearly all students are, I believe, agreed that the advantages of 
large-scale organization of some kind outweigh its disadvantages in 
the case of railway service; and some students believe that the balance 
of advantage is on the same side in the case of the distribution of 
food in urban areas. I myself believe, though I have no expert 
knowledge of the technical facts, that large-scale organization of 
some kind is an advantage in British coal-getting. 

If so, the question is narrowed down to a comparison between 
nationalization and other forms of large-scale organization. Appar- 
ently, in the course of the discussion it is being further narrowed to 
a comparison between the nationalization and large-scale private ad- 
ministration with a considerable degree of State control. I shall 
myself consider the problem of nationalization neither as an industrial 
nor as a technical, but as an administrative problem. 

It is proposed that the State should become responsible for the 
appointment, discipline, promotion, and control of perhaps twelve 
hundred thousand persons, men, boys, women, and girls, ranging from 
the managers of great systems of pits down to pit-boys and girl 
typists. My own opinion is that this will be an advantage to the 
community if the State takes reasonable care in avoiding certain 

477 



478 THE PUBLIC 

administrative dangers, and that it will be a disadvantage to the 
community if such care is not taken. 

The most obvious administrative dangers may be summed up as 
follows : 

(a) The coal-mining service might become corrupt in the ordinary 

sense. Posts might be sold by those who had the power 
to fill them, as posts in the British Civil Service were sold 
in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

(b) The service might get, in the American sense, " into politics." 

Posts and promotion would be given as a reward for 
political work or political subscriptions; and those who 
opposed the party which for the moment dominated either 
Parliament or the district concerned might be passed over 
or dismissed, or refused work. 

(c) The service might become, as some of the fifteenth and six- 

teenth century guilds became, a " family affair." Officials 
and workmen might acquire a customary right to appoint 
or admit to employment their sons or other relatives. Out- 
siders might only be admitted to work for which there were 
few applications, and superior and inferior hereditary grades 
would be thus created. 

(d) Or all or some of these evils might develop sporadically and 

partially. 

I should suppose that instances of all these evils might be found 
in the existing private administration of the industry. Any improve- 
ment in the conditions of the service which made admission to it 
more desirable than admission to other forms of employment would, 
of course, increase the danger, whether the industry were publicly or 
privately owned. 

In approaching similar problems in the Civil Service, the Royal 
Commissions which have inquired into them (of which the Playfair, 
Ridley, and MacDonnell Commissions have been the most important) 
have separated the forms of service into (i) administrative and clerical, 
(ii) technical, and (iii) manual. 

The most elaborate system that has been built up in the British 
Civil Service is that providing for admission to and promotion in 
clerical and administrative work. The basis for this system is admis- 
sion by open competitive examination in the subjects of a general 
education. It is believed that a properly educated young man or 
woman can be trained after appointment to do the administrative 
work even of such a technical department as the War Office or the 
Admiralty. The higher posts in this work are therefore normally 
given to those who have been trained in it. If this system is used 



NEW CLASS OF GOVERNMENT SERVANT 479 

to any extent in the mining service it would probably be well to 
require a certain knowledge of natural science in the examination, 
even from the future clerks and secretaries of the service. The 
present distinction between " Class I " appointments and those of a 
lower grade might be modified ; and promotion might mainly depend 
rather on proved efficiency than on the examination by which the 
original appointment was made. Perhaps it would be well to hold 
the examinations not in London, but in the coal districts; so that 
the mass of the candidates, especially for the minor clerical posts, 
would normally come from those districts, and be familiar with their 
conditions. 

The appointment of technical officers under the State, such as 
Government chemists, or engineers, or lawyers, or doctors, has hitherto 
been somewhat haphazard. The Playfair and Ridley Commissions 
practically ignored this problem. The MacDonnell Commission recom- 
mended that in the appointment of young men and women for technical 
posts reliance should mainly be placed on competitive examination in 
technical subjects, and that in the appointment of older persons to 
posts for which they might be expected to have been trained outside 
the service, all posts should be advertised and applications should be 
considered by technical committees of selection containing at least one 
representative of the Civil Service Commission. Since the technical 
work of coal mining is highly specialized, it would probably be found 
that the best men for the higher technical posts would be selected 
from those trained from youth in the service. If so, it will be neces- 
sary to provide carefully against " regionalism " in promotion. A 
brilliant young mining engineer should be able to look forward to the 
chance of appointment to an important post outside his own district. 
Care should also be taken that women shall be eligible for all work 
for which their powers are suited. I believe, for instance, that some 
of the best living " fossil botanists " are women. 

The British State has hitherto given very little general attention 
to the problem of the best way of appointing, promoting, and dis- 
missing manual workers outside the Army, Navy, and postal service. 
I do not know, for instance, that there exists in print any description 
of the actual forces which influence the appointment or refusal to 
appoint applicants for manual work in the State dockyards. 

Appointment and promotion of manual workers to a service so 
large and complex as the coal-mining industry would be a compara- 
tively new problem. It should be carefully inquired into as soon as 
nationalization is decided on, and continuously watched during the 
development of the new system. The existing miners would, of 
course, be taken over by the State, and any system of filling new 
vacancies and making new appointments should probably be decen- 



480 THE PUBLIC 

tralized, and perhaps made to conform, as far as can be done without 
loss of efficiency, to the best local traditions. 

The evidence given before the various Commissions on the Civil 
Service and my own administrative experience, both on the London 
School Board and on the London County Council, suggest to me that 
it would be well for the State, in taking over so large a new service, 
to consider carefully the right way of dealing with those cases of 
slackness and inefficiency (both on the administrative and on the 
technical side) which do not amount to gross misconduct. This prob- 
lem also exists, of course, in large-scale private industry. 

If the mines are nationalized, and particularly if examination is to 
be used to any considerable extent as a means of recruiting, it will 
be found that the problem of employment is closely bound up with 
that of the technical and general educational systems of the mining 
districts. Those who are engaged in the organization of technical 
education and research should be brought into close contact with the 
whole system. A young engineeer or chemist, for instance, whom it 
is proposed to promote to a higher grade of work, might well be 
given a short leave of absence, together with opportunities of research, 
either in Britain or in America, under the general direction of a high 
technical expert. 

All these administrative problems would exist, and would have to 
be solved, whether the form of nationalization adopted were adminis- 
tration by an ordinary Government Department or such a scheme of 
joint Governmental and vocational control as that proposed by Mr. 
Straker in his evidence. 

An essential difference between coal-getting and other industries 
consists in the fact that the existing coal deposits when once exhausted 
cannot be renewed; so that each generation of the inhabitation of 
Great Britain has to decide how far it will prefer the interests of its 
successors to its own interest. In this all-important respect I believe 
that nationalization would have an advantage over private ownership. 
The same man will, I believe, when he is acting as a voter or Member 
of Parliament or Minister, or State official be more influenced by 
national interests in distant future than when he is acting as a share- 
holder, or manager, or member of a trade union. 

The Viscount Haldane, who was called as witness before the 
Coal Commission, testified as follows: 

Chairman: Lord Haldane, I think that you were Lord Chancellor, 
and that you were Minister of War from 1905 to 1912? — Yes. 

I am afraid I must ask you one or two questions about that in 
order to lead up to the question that I desire to ask you. I think that 






NEW CLASS OF GOVERNMENT SERVANT 481 

during that time you had very considerable experience of, and were 
responsible for, the reorganization of a great State Department? — 
That was so. 

Am I right in thinking that during that time you organized the 
Territorial Forces of the Crown, and that also you provided for a 
very speedy mobilization of our Forces in the event of the nation 
being called upon to go to war? — That was so. 

I think, as a result of your efforts, a very speedy mobilization of 
our Forces was effected when war was declared against Germany? — 
Yes. The thing we concentrated upon was extreme rapidity of 
mobilization and concentration in the place of assembly, and that we 
carried out. 

I suppose it is no longer a secret, but war was declared on Tuesday, 
August 4th, 1914, and I think within a matter of twelve or fourteen 
hours, under the scheme of mobilization which you had prepared, 
some of our troops were already in France? — Yes, within a very 
short time: within a very few hours troops were in France. 

How long was it before the whole of the British Expeditionary 
Force was placed in the Field at the appointed place? — On Monday, 
3rd August, 1914, at the request of the Prime Minister, I, as Lord 
Chancellor, went back to the War Office and mobilized the machine 
with which I was familiar. That was done at 11 o'clock upon Monday, 
August 3rd, and the giving of the orders took only a few minutes; 
everything was prepared years before. 

How long was it before the whole of the Expeditionary Force was 
able to be placed in France? — The whole of the Expeditionary Force 
was ready to transport to France on the spot. It was ready, I should 
think, within 48 hours. The War Council which was held decided 
that four infantry divisions and a cavalry division should go at once, 
and that a fifth division should follow in a week, and then another 
division should follow a little later. That was carried out, as the War 
Council directed, by the War Office. 

The reason I am putting those questions is to show that you had 
great experience in organizing a branch of the State. The problem 
we have before us is, if nationalization should be decided upon, 
whether the present Civil Service, or some remodeling of the present 
Civil Service, would be in a position successfully to cope with the 
problems that would face them if the coal industry were run na- 
tionally? — Yes. What I should like to say something about, if you 
will allow me, is the question of whether it is possible to train a body 
of Civil Servants fit for rapid and efficient administration. 

I have not had a precis from you because time has been rather short, 
but I should be much obliged to you if you would now take up that 
subject, and place your views before the Commission? — That brings 



482 THE PUBLIC 

me at once to what I am dealing with. In the Army some of these 
administrative things are just as difficult and just as complicated as 
any that occur in ordinary civilian business. They require qualities 
which the ordinary Civil Servant is not trained to develop. They 
require, to begin with, a great deal of initiative. No doubt it is true, 
in peace time especially, that every officer looks to his superior; 
but we encouraged, as far as we could, the principle of allocating 
responsibility and encouraging initiative, telling a man what he had 
to do in general terms, having first made sure that he was competent 
to do it, and then showing that we held him responsible for doing 
it and for doing it for the least money possible and in the swiftest 
and most effective fashion. That was an ideal which we did not 
succeed in wholly living up to, but it was a principle which seemed to 
me to work out effectively. There is no doubt in that period some 
extraordinarily efficient military administrators were trained up. I 
hope this Commission will not think by " military administrative 
officers" I mean the kind of people who have come in, justly or 
unjustly, for a good deal of criticism before the public lately. Those 
are mainly men not trained for the purpose. I am speaking of the 
young men we took and then put through a special course of training. 
The thing we found was that in this, as in everything else, education 
is of vital importance, and then special education coming upon the 
top of a sufficiently generally educated mind. We had no school 
and we had no staff college in which to train our administrators, and 
there was not the least prospect in those days of Parliament giving 
us money for one. But we had another thing to hand: We took 
the London School of Economics, with which some of the members 
of this Commission are familiar. I myself approached the London 
School of Economics, and with the very great assistance which I had 
from a member of the Commission, Mr. Sidney Webb, I induced them 
to take in hand the task of training 40 administrative officers for us 
in each year. Courses were designed, and they were taught things 
which they never could have learned in the Army. I think it will 
be found if you inquire from others that that training was of enormous 
advantage in France. There these young officers were serving — officers 
on whom was placed enormous responsibility and also a great deal 
of necessity for devising initiative for themselves. Englishmen, if 
they have any aptitude for it, are particularly good at getting out of 
tight places, and these officers, trained as they were to deal with all 
sorts of problems, in France and Flanders showed very great capacity 
in doing so. In Mesopotamia it was the same. 

Do you think the class of men to whom you have been good enough 
to direct our attention is a class of men who possess the qualities 
of courage and of taking initiative? — Yes. I am very glad you have 



NEW CLASS OF GOVERNMENT SERVANT 483 

given me an opportunity to speak about that. There are some men 
who have it not in them to take initiative or assume responsibility, 
and they never will. I think, as a rule, in the civilian business world 
these men fail as they fail in the Army. In the business world the 
other men come to the top, and are picked out and chosen and put 
to their work. That is not so usual in a service. It is more difficult 
in the Civil Service where people come in according to rules and 
succeed to places very largely according to seniority. In the army 
and Navy, where selection obtains to a considerable extent, and ought 
to obtain to a still greater extent, it is much easier. You pick a man 
because he is particularly good at the sort of work you want him for. 
You ask him to devote himself to administration, and, if he does, 
you may get a man just as valuable and just as good as you will 
find in the business world. It is quite true he has not got what is 
the great impulse in the business world, namely, the desire to make 
a fortune for himself, but he has another motive, which, in my 
experience, is equally potent with the best class of men, namely, the 
desire to distinguish himself in the service of the State. If he 
thinks he will be recognized because of his public spirit and his devo- 
tion to his duty, that public spirit and devotion to duty will make him 
do anything: there is no sacrifice of himself he will not make. Of 
course, I am talking of the best type of men, such as the men I came 
across and saw in the Army. That class of man, I believe, exists in 
far greater number in the two services than has been supposed at 
the present time. I am only taking them as illustrations of sources 
from which you can draw. I am not suggesting to this Commission 
that they should nationalize under the Army and Navy, but I am only 
saying why I think there is a source which is neglected from which 
oublic servants might be drawn. You get these men and they have 
been trained to a sense that they must be responsible even with their 
own lives for the attainment of the object which you intrust to them 
to accomplish. 

We appear then to have created a sort of new class of (I will 
call them for the moment) officials for want of a better term. What 
is the future of those men if they have to remain in the Army or in 
the Navy? — I will come to that in a moment, but I wish to say we 
did not create them: they were there, but undeveloped. Splendid 
material was there, but the nation had never thought of training them 
in the right way. They had trained the commanding officer, but they 
had never trained the administrator who was really just as necessary 
to them. I want to say now that I do not think the State recognizes 
the extent to which not only in the Army and the Navy, but outside 
the Army and the Navy, there are young men in whom those qualities 
can be brought out — the quality of initiative and the quality of devo- 



484 THE PUBLIC 

tion to duty, which are as powerful a motive as the motive of business 
men if they are only developed in the right atmosphere. 

Should I be right in saying that, in your opinion, there is a class 
of man who combines the strongest sense of public duty with the 
greatest energy and capacity for initiative? — In my opinion there is 
a large class. 

And that is a class that can not only be trained in the future but 
which, in your view, is to hand at present? — They are to hand at 
present. I have spoken of the Army because I know the Army and 
perhaps because I love it, but it is certainly equally true of the Navy. 
If I may say so, the Navy has given even less attention to this 
question than we tried to do in the Army. 

Speaking of that class, with regard to the coal industry, do you 
think it would be necessary, if one drew or selected from that class 
in the sort of way you have been good enough to tell us, to give 
these men some special training to fit them for the coal industry in 
the event of it being necessary? — I think so, and, if I may, I will 
just put the steps which I think would be necessary. My idea for 
the Army and Navy is that young men should not go into them too 
early. With regard to the age of entry in the Navy (it is low enough 
in the Army now, but too early in the Navy at the present so far 
as I can judge) I should like to see it begin at 17 or 18 years. 
I believe that is quite early enough, when a young man has a general 
education. That would give an opportunity for the son of the working 
man just as for the son of the duke to go into these services. It 
will all depend upon whether he feels it in him, and whether he is 
chosen on indications which satisfy those who have to make the 
selection. At that age he will have gone in with an amount of 
education which he does not get at the present time. I do not believe 
in special schools, because they are never so good as the schools 
which give a broad general basis on which to develop the mind. He 
would then go in, and his first years of course would be thorough 
education in his duty, naval or military. A little later he would 
specialize more and more in those duties. He would go into the 
field and go on board ship — whatever might happen — and then I 
should like, if he has aptitude for what I may call general staff duties 
as distinguished from others, to see him trained for those. If he is 
the sort of young officer that has it in him and if he has the aptitude 
for the other side equally, then encourage him to train for the 
administrative side. That administrative side would have to be organ- 
ized and developed and recognized to an extent which it has not 
been up to now. Then when he was 25 or 26 he might feel, " Well, 
I have great aptitude for administration. I have distinguished 
myself so far as I have gone. But it is peace time and the Army 



NEW CLASS OF GOVERNMENT SERVANT 485 

and Navy do not seem likely to want me. I have a better chance 
if I can serve the State in another Department." Then I should like 
to see the State, having kept a watch over that class of officer and 
selecting the best of them, put them through a special course of 
training. I am not sure I know anything much better than the kind 
of atmosphere we had in the London School of Economics. It was 
purely civilian and free from militarism, and it was very good. There 
they were trained in making contracts and in local government, in the 
law of administration, in railway management, and a variety of other 
things which they could choose, or all of which they could take. A 
comparatively short course of that develops enormously and very 
rapidly the capacity of a really first-rate man already trained in his 
own profession. He becomes very capable and apt as an administrator. 
I have seen it over and over again in officers of that kind who later 
in life have gone into civilian administration, and they are very good 
indeed. Then there is something else to be seen to. It is not at 
present the business of the London School of Economics to teach 
initiative. Initiative is a matter of the spirit and a matter of tem- 
perament. Like courage and temperament, initiative can be developed. 
I should like to see a .school of the State teach the necessity of that 
and the necessity of a man relying upon himself and making his own 
decisions. As you see, I put education in a very wide and broad 
sense as the foundation of the question whether you can train admin- 
istrators for the service of the State. 

On the question of salary, do you think the State would have to 
raise the scale of salary to make it correspond with that which prevails 
in private employment? — I am all in favor of paying good salaries, 
because, in the main, you get what you pay for, and it is still more 
clear that you do not get what you do not pay for. That is human 
nature, and it is as strongly implanted in the miner as in the State 
official. The State official, hitherto, has been the patient beast of 
burden who has been underpaid, and whose salary has risen very 
slightly compared with the cost of living. Equally good salaries do 
not mean the salaries which rich men require in order to live as rich 
men. Your general in the Army, your colonel, your captain, your 
admiral in the Navy, your commander, live on what the rich man often 
calls very little indeed, but their reward comes to them in another 
way. They have social advantages which he has not. They are 
rewarded by the public, by honors, and by positions which tell. I do 
not like that being a monopoly of the fighting services. I want to 
see it extended to the other administrative services of the State, and 
I think it can be. It has been partly extended to the Civil Service, 
and I want it extended to those larger Civil Services of which we 
are speaking. 



486 THE PUBLIC 

Mr. Justice Sankey, as chairman of the Coal Industry Commis- 
sion, reported: 

The Civil Servant has not been trained to run an industry, but the 
war has demonstrated the potentiality of the existence of a new class 
of men (whether already in the service of the State or not) who 
are just as keen to serve the State as they are to serve a private 
employer, and who have been shown to possess the qualities of courage 
in taking the initiative necessary for the running of an industry. 

Hitherto, State management of industries has on balance failed to 
prove itself free from serious shortcomings, but these shortcomings 
are largely due to the neglect of the State to train those who are to 
be called on for knowledge and ability in management. 

The experience of the last few years has, however, shown that it 
is not really difficult for the British nation to provide a class of 
administrative officers who combine the strongest sense of public duty 
with the greatest energy and capacity for initiative. Those who have 
this kind of training appear to be capable in a high degree of assum- 
ing responsibility and also of getting on with the men whom they 
have to direct. 



CHAPTER IV 
WHAT PEOPLE SAY 
The Social Revolution 
On September 24th, 1919, the Manchester Guardian said: 

Privilege of class, of wealth, of opportunity, and of birth is not 
to be swept lightly away. The struggle will not be a short one, and 
if at times both sides take breath to recover there is no need to 
delude ourselves into the belief that we are yet all members of one 
family with common objects and a common outlook. The new spirit 
of Labor cannot live with any spirit of pure industrial efficiency which 
denies to the worker essential human interests. The satisfaction of 
these interests may be unprofitable and economically unwise. But it 
is the whole point of the new Labor movement that it thinks less 
in terms of economics and more in terms of self-development, self- 
expression, and the capacity for power. 

Viscount Esher on March 23rd, 1919, wrote (The Weekly 
Dispatch) : 

The new forces of democracy, reflected as they are in the awakening 
of the vast masses of what are called the lower classes, are a far 
greater dynamic power than were those of the middle class of a 
hundred years ago. The danger, therefore, of disturbance is more 
acute. 

Dean Inge wrote on November 26th (Manchester Guardian) : 

I believe that our industrial system is dying. It may be that the 
industrial revolution was a biological mistake, that the human organ- 
ism is not adapted to that kind of life. If so, we shall revert through 
infinite discomfort and suffering, to a simpler economic structure and 
a much smaller population. 

Bonar Law said on June 5th, 1919: 

It is idle to hide from ourselves that there is in our own country 
something — not enough to frighten anybody, but more perhaps than 
is generally recognized — something of a real revolutionary movement. 

487 



488 THE PUBLIC 

On June 5th, 1919, Sir Robert Home said: 

We have skipped a generation. Five years of war have taught 
men more and created more aspirations than half a century of 
peace. 

Ramsay MacDonald in the Labor Leader of August 28th writes : 

We cannot create a revolution, in the constructive sense in which 
I use it, by superficial changes in wages and hours. That is only to 
destroy the capitalist system, to throw certain groups of nations out 
of the highways of great world commerce — or, at best, to readjust 
capitalist relationships. 

The war has ended British commercial supremacy. All that the 
so-called patriots have done is to dig the grave of the British Empire, 
and if all that we can do between the time of dying and burial is 
to fight over the distribution of what remains of the old inheritance, 
it is not worth doing. 

The conflict in which we are interested is not that which is confined 
within the walls of factories and counting houses, it is that broadened 
out in its significance until it is seen as a conflict between the capitalist 
and the industrial State. 

Such combinations of workmen, as the miners and the railwaymen, 
are in a position to fight as sections, and it is right that they should 
do so. But they should fight as advance guards of the community. 
Their battle is not theirs but ours. Herein lies the genius of Smillie's 
leadership. From this is also apparent the short-sightedness of direct 
action as opposed to political action, and the utter vanity of thinking 
that under a democracy, or anything approaching to a democracy, 
there is any practical value in a " dictatorship of the proletariat." 

On March 19th, J. T. Brownlie, Chairman of the Executive 
Committee of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, told of his 
interview with the King: 

The King at once said that it was in order to get an absolutely 
frank expression of views that he had sent for me. Then I spoke 
out. I explained that I had been a Socialist for a quarter of a century 
and that I thought the time had come for a great and historical change 
in social and industrial conditions. Such changes had been the history 
of the race, and the evolutionary forces which had produced them 
were assuredly as potent as ever. 



WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 489 

Labor and Capital 

R. H. Tawney (Daily News, July nth, 1919) says: 

The truth is that we are all hampered in our efforts at clear 
thinking by phrases which never meant much and now mean nothing. 
One of them is, " Labor and Capital." This venerable formula is a 
fraud and it is time that reputable writers ceased repeating it. 
" Labor " consists of persons ; " Capital " consists of things or claims 
to things. To lament " the strife " or to plead for " co-operation," 
between " labor and capital " is much as though an author should 
deplore the ill-feeling between carpenters and hammers or undertake 
a crusade to restore harmonious relations between mankind and their 
boots. The muddle is not mended by the fact that by capital is meant 
"capitalists." For the vice of the phrase is that it treats the claims 
of " labor and capital " as co-ordinate. If they are, and were generally 
recognized to be, co-ordinate, cadit quaestio. But the problem only 
arises because an increasing proportion of mankind believes that the 
world should be managed primarily for those who work, not for 
those who own. To start by burying that fundamental issue beneath 
smooth phrases as to " the common aim of industry " is to assume 
the very point which requires to be proved, and which alone provides 
matter for discussion. 

Religion 

On " The Religion of Labor," the Rev. R. W. Cummings (Vicar 
of Hurst, Lancashire) writes (Daily News, September 5th) : 

It is the futility of a religion of mere subjective metaphysical 
idealism that needs emphasis to-day. It has been the so-called ma- 
terialists who, by the methods of scientific economic reorganization, 
have shown to a fumbling idealism the method by which justice and 
fellowship could be woven into the physical texture of man's earthly 
life. And it is the accredited champions of Idealism who are the fore- 
most defenders of the pitiless and illogical competitive system which 
Labor knows it must destroy, that it may rescue the soul of the 
world. 

Before we can appreciate what the " Religion of Labor " is likely 
to be we must realize that the Labor movement is only incidentally 
an economic revolution. Fundamentally, it is the practical expression, 
in the field of politics, of a newly emerging philosophy of life that 
has scant reverence for the beliefs and thought forms molded and 
shaped out of the imperfect and even erroneous knowledge of the 



490 THE PUBLIC 

pre-scientific period. With perfect courage, candor, and intelligence 
it is going to think out all the implications of historic materialism. 

Whether this religion will be definitely Christian or not will depend 
on the intellectual honesty and spiritual candor of the Church's 
leaders; the present outlook is not hopeful. We shall not affect the 
matter by abusing " materialism." If we would be hopeful we had 
better accept the modern materialist movement, as of God, and, fol- 
lowing the Divine method of the Incarnation, weave or incarnate into 
it the ideals of fellowship and service and love. For only by weaving 
these ideals into the material fabric of the common life can we 
change them from the disembodied ghosts they are to-day into physical 
embodiments of the attributes of God. 



Nationalization 

On nationalization, the Bishop of Peterborough wrote in The 
Times on March 21st, 1919: 

I doubt whether those who are not in close touch with the workers 
realize the intensity of the feeling in favor of the nationalization of 
those vital services on which the life of the community depends. As 
a most conservative and law-abiding ticket collector said to me not 
long ago, " We railwaymen want to feel that we are working as 
directly for our country in peace as we fought for her in war," and 
in saying so he was doubtless speaking for hundreds of thousands 
of like-minded men and women. 

Can we expect it to be otherwise? For nationalization is simply 
the projection into the paths of peace of the spirit which captured our 
industries, and still more our Armies, in war time, when no man 
thought of personal profit, but all of the common weal. 

The point I would venture to emphasize is that strong currents of 
opinion in the country are setting towards such a revision of outlook 
as will regard the great industries as national services rather than 
private ventures. 

Viscount Milner said on July 16th: 

Whatever may be our own feelings and inclinations, it is impossible 
to deny that there is an irresistible trend of opinion, not only in this 
country but in all civilized countries, which will result in a greater 
measure of public ownership, or public control in connection with 
fundamental national industries such as coal. 

The old industrial order is passing away, and we have to try to 






WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 491 

lend a hand in the peaceful establishment of the new order. I believe 
that in the future, as in the past, there will always be room for 
private enterprise, but also believe the trend of modern thought, both 
in regard to social and political development, is all in favor of greater 
socialization of certain fundamental and basic industries, of which 
coal must be one. 

Capitalism 

Bertrand Russell, in The Nation of June 7th, 1919, wrote: 

The Labor Movement must be international or doomed to perpetual 
failure ; it must conquer America or forego success in Europe until 
some very distant future. Which of these will happen, I do not profess 
to know. But I do know that a great responsibility rests upon those 
who mold progressive thought in America: the responsibility of real- 
izing the new international importance of America, and of under- 
standing why the shibboleths of traditional Liberalism no longer 
satisfy European lovers of justice. The only right use of power is to 
promote freedom. The nominal freedom of the wage-slave is a sham 
and a delusion, as great a sham as the nominal freedom which the 
Peace Treaty leaves to the Germans. Will America, in her future 
career of power, content herself with the illusory freedom that exists 
under capitalist domination? Or will her missionary spirit once more, 
as in the days of Jefferson, urge men on along the way to the most 
complete freedom that is possible in the circumstances of the time? 
It is a momentous question; upon the answer depends the whole 
future of the human race. 

War 

Of war, Lord Robert Cecil has said: 

Do not be blinded by poets and historians. There has been a con- 
spiracy not yet broken down to dwell on the glories of battle and 
cover over its horrors. The truth is that war has always produced 
these results, more or less marked according to the magnitude of 
the struggle, and war always will produce these results. Lord Grey 
has pointed out to you that a future war will be more terrible than 
this one. I believe that that is a prophecy which may be made without 
fear of falsification. 

The Press 

Jerome K. Jerome has clearly said what an increasing number 
of the workers feel about the press. His article has been widely 
used in the Labor papers: 



492 THE PUBLIC 

Nine-tenths of the press of this country is in the hands of a small 
group of rich men who mean to rule the nation. It is the press that 
has killed constitutional action. The press seeks to kill Free Thought 
— to kill Free Speech. And it is succeeding. It has monopolized to 
itself all the sources of information. It stands between the thinkers 
and the people. It will not allow anybody but itself to be heard. It 
poisons the mind of the people with false information. It suppresses 
facts that it does not wish the people to know. It doles out to them 
only such " news " as it considers good for them. It colors the truth 
for its own purposes. It dresses up lies in plausibility. It is the 
press and not Parliament that rules England to-day. Parliament only 
registers its decrees, and the Government is nothing but its tame 
executive. No politician who wishes to succeed dare flout its com- 
mands. It makes and unmakes Cabinets. The Public Service is its 
plaything. The press itself in its turn is ruled by the Capitalists. 
It depends for its existence upon the great advertisers. In its turn 
it is the instrument of the great financial interests and their aris- 
tocratic dependents. The press is the enemy of the people. It has 
usurped the entire authority of the country. Exempt from all re- 
sponsibility, with neither a body to be kicked nor a soul to be damned, 
it has become the most dangerous despotism that Democracy has ever 
been called upon to face. The press of to-day exercises the same 
vicious tyranny that in the Middle Ages was exercised by the Church : 
the tyranny over men's minds. It rules by the same weapon : lies and 
humbug. 

The New Order 

When General Smuts left England for South Africa, he gave 
this statement on July 18th: 

In spite of the apparent failure of the Peace Conference to bring 
about the real and lasting appeasement of the nations to which we 
had been looking forward, our faith in our great ideals should be kept 
untarnished. The sting of bitterness should be taken out of the 
great disillusion which is overtaking the peoples. Instead of sitting 
down in despair as reactionaries or anarchists, we should continue to 
march forward with firm step as those who have the Great Hope. 

A new life, a new spirit is imperatively necessary if Europe is not 
to fall backward and lag behind other continents in the great march 
of humanity. Her lot is indeed pitiable beyond words. The Con- 
tinent which is the motherland of our civilization lies in ruins, ex- 
hausted by the most terrible struggle in history, with its peoples 
broken, starving, despairing, from sheer nervous exhaustion me- 
chanically struggling forward along the paths of anarchy and war, 



WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 493 

and seeing only red through the blinding mist of tears and fears; 
almost a mad Continent, more fit for Bedlam than for the tremendous 
task of reconstruction which lies before it. It is the most awful 
spectacle in history, and no man with any heart or regard for human 
destiny can contemplate it without the deepest emotion. 

Old ideals of wealth, of property, of class and social relations, of 
international relations, of moral and spiritual values, are rapidly 
changing. The old political formulas sound hollow ; the old land- 
marks by which we used to steer are disappearing beneath a great 
flood. 

Among the nations of the world this great country has in the past 
enjoyed the most splendid reputation for political wisdom, generosity, 
and magnanimity. Let this mighty Empire, in this great hour of vic- 
tory and at the zenith of its power, win a great moral victory, so that 
the ideals which have shaped the destiny of our great Commonwealth 
of Nations may become the common heritage of the League of Na- 
tions and of Europe. Only then will this war not have been fought 
in vain, and the future garner the far off interest of our tears. 



IRELAND 

The Labor Party's Irish policy is pretty clearly defined as far as 
resolutions go, but opinion has not crystalized upon the exact 
meaning to be attached to Conference resolutions. Two resolu- 
tions are relevant. The first was adopted at the 18th Annual 
Conference of the Party in London in June, 1918 — this Confer- 
ence was really the program Conference held after the changes 
in methods of party organization, and the resolution is based on 
Labor and the New Social Order. It runs: 

" That this Conference unhesitatingly recognizes the claim of the 
people of Ireland to Home Rule, and to self-determination in all 
exclusively Irish affairs; it protests against the stubborn resistance to 
a democratic reorganization of Irish government maintained by those 
who, alike in Ireland and Great Britain, are striving to keep minorities 
dominant ; and it demands that a wide and generous measure of Home 
Rule on the lines indicated by the proceedings of the Irish Conven- 
tion should be immediately passed into law and put into operation." 

An amendment to delete the reference to the Irish Convention 
was carried. 
The second resolution is that adopted at the Amsterdam Meeting 



494 THE PUBLIC 

of the permanent Commission of the Internationale appointed at 
Berne. It runs: 

"The International Conference demands that the principle of free 
and absolute self-determination shall be applied immediately in the 
case of Ireland; affirms the right of the Irish people to political inde- 
pendence; demands that this self-determination shall rest upon a 
democratic decision expressed by the free, equal and secret vote of 
the people, without any military, political, or economic pressure from 
outside, or any reservation or restriction imposed by any Govern- 
ment. The Conference calls upon the Powers at the Peace Confer- 
ence to make good this rightful claim of the Irish people." 

In mere terminology, the Amsterdam resolution goes consider- 
ably beyond the Party resolution; and would cover the demand 
for an Irish Republic if that were expressed in a plebiscite of the 
Irish people. Strictly interpreted, of course, the resolution would 
not rule out a plebiscite by districts, which would give Ulster 
the opportunity of making its wishes known, leading possibly to 
a partition of Ireland along the lines of strict self-determination. 
The Labor Party would find it difficult, under the terms of this 
resolution, to resist the demand of the Irish people for complete 
severance from the Imperial system, and there is a section of 
the movement which is quite logical in its view that if the Irish 
people want a republic, they must have it, with complete control 
over all their affairs, even the creation of a defense force, control 
of their economic policy (meaning, possibly, protection), control 
over their police, and of course no veto by the Imperial Par- 
liament on any legislation of the Irish House or Houses. 

This policy goes a good deal beyond what most Labor people 
mean by a wide and generous measure of Home Rule. A majority 
of the Party means Dominion Home Rule, which leaves foreign 
policy, defense, and probably trade relations under the control of 
the Imperial Parliament. It is true that Dominion Home Rule 
should mean freedom for Ireland to determine its own fiscal 
policy, like Australia and Canada now do; but many free-trade 
advocates of Home Rule would hesitate before giving Ireland 
freedom to impose a protectionist policy, which would probably 
be directed against England. 

Broadly speaking, it may be said, with some confidence, that 
the Labor Party would accept Gladstonian Home Rule, Do- 



WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 495 

minion Home Rule, or the Home Rule Act at present on the 
statute Book, as an instalment. They want to get the Irish 
problem settled, and the reference to a " wide and generous 
measure " really means the utmost concession that can be wrung 
from the dominant minority at the present time. It is not that 
Labor is niggardly, or desires to limit the exercise of self- 
determination by the Irish people, but that it regards politics as 
the art of the possible, and would therefore accept almost any 
instalment of political freedom which would be acceptable to the 
Irish people, if only as an instalment, and thus get this problem 
out of the way. They could not, on their principles, refuse an 
Irish Republic, but there is a feeling that they ought to find some 
means of preventing Ireland becoming a stepping-off" place for a 
continental invasion of the British island, or a mere outpost of 
some one else's empire. 

As yet it is fair to assume that the Party's Irish policy implies 
that Dominion Home Rule is as far as they can go, with limita- 
tions covering foreign policy, national defense, and fiscal affairs. 

In the House of Commons on December 22, 1919, Arthur Hen- 
derson said: 



" Considering whether the Government scheme meant self-deter- 
mination for Ireland or even for the whole of Ulster, he said the 
Ulster Unionists had never asked for anything in the nature of a 
separate Parliament. It was not proposed even to consult the whole 
of the Ulster people by conferring on them the right of a county 
vote. At best the Government scheme could be regarded only as a 
half-hearted, unsatisfying compromise. The Government might have 
produced its scheme on the lines usually described as Dominion home 
rule minus the control of the navy and army and giving county option. 
Another course, and one which he thought preferable, would be to 
allow the Home Rule Act to have come into operation and to have 
left to the Irish Parliament which would be summoned the working 
out of its own constitution. That would have been the nearest ap- 
proach to self-determination. The members of the Labor Party were 
anxious to assist the Government in ending the long night of ill-will 
and misunderstanding which had dominated the life of Ireland. 
When the time of the final test came their attitude towards the 
proposals would be determined according to the principle of self- 
government" 



496 THE PUBLIC 



THE WEBB " HISTORY " 



Twenty-six years after the original, the revised edition of the 
" History of Trade Unionism " by the Webbs was published in 
February of 1920. 1 The trade union orders, prior to publication, 
reached 19,000 — the largest edition of a serious work on an eco- 
nomic subject ever published in Britain. The publication of the 
Webb History in 1894 was as definite a landmark in the move- 
ment of British democracy as the various acts that extended the 
suffrage, or the Trade Disputes Act. The unions had worked in 
the dark, piecemeal, instinctively. Here for the first time, they 
found their knowledge pooled, and therefore available. What had 
been blind groping became a little more conscious. 

The Webbs find to-day over six million British workers in trade 
unions — 60 per cent of all the adult male manual working wage- 
earners. Trade union membership has doubled in the last eight 
years. 

" The growing strength of the Movement has been marked by a 
series of legislative changes which have ratified and legalized the 
increasing influence of the wage-earner's combinations in the gov- 
ernment both of industry and political relations." 

Among such are: 
Trade Disputes Act — 1906. 
Trade Boards Act— 1908. 
Coal Mines Regulation (8 hours) Act — 1908. 
National Insurance Act — 191 1. 
Trade Union Act — 1913. 
Corn Production Act — 1917. 
Trade Boards Extension Act — 1918. 

The Decline 

Among the changes of the last thirty years is the decline in 
relative influence of the cotton operatives. 

11 The building Trades have lost their relative position in the Trades 
Union world to nearly as great an extent as the cotton operatives. 
They have, for a whole generation, supplied no influential leader." 

1 In the United States, in the spring of 1920. 



WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 497 

The Metal workers include Engineering or machinists, boiler 
making and shipbuilding, the producers of iron and steel from 
the ore. The Engineers (machinists) have greatly increased in 
membership, but not in strength. 

The printing trades have remained stationary. 

A relative decline in influence among boot and shoe makers 
has been manifest. 



The Rise 

In the same period of thirty years (1890-1920) : 

" We have the rise to influence not only in the Trade Union Coun- 
sels but also in those of the Nation, of the Women Workers, the 
General Laborers, the ' black-coated proletariat ' of shop assistants, 
clerks, teachers, technicians, and officials, the miners and the railway- 
men, which has been the outstanding feature of the past thirty years." 

" In 1920 we find the organizations of the despised section of general 
laborers and unskilled workmen, some of them of over thirty years' 
standing, accounting for no less than 30 per cent of the whole Trade 
Union membership, and their leaders — notably Mr. Clynes, Mr. 
Thorne, and Mr. Robert Williams — exercising at least their full share 
of influence in the Counsels of the Trade Union Movement as a 
whole." 

" The total number of agricultural laborers in Trade Unions in 
1920 probably reaches more than a quarter of a million, being about 
one-third of the total number of men employed in agriculture at 
wages." 

" The outstanding feature of the Trade Union world between 1890 
and 1920 has been the growing predominance, in its Counsels and in 
its collective activity, of the organized forces of the coal-miners." 



The Railway Strike 

The Webbs give a summary of the railway strike. The Govern- 
ment learned that Trade Unionism is not easily beaten, even when 
all the resources of the State are put forth against it. The great 
Capitalist organizations have seen the warning against their 
projects of a general reduction of wages; and this is postponed, 
at least, for a year. Labor has learned the magnitude of the 
struggle, the need for skilled publicity work, and for a General 
Staff. 



498 THE PUBLIC 

"A notable feature of the railway strike was a revolt of the Com- 
positors and printers' assistants, who threatened to strike and stop the 
newspapers altogether unless the railwaymen were allowed to present 
their case, and unless abusive posters were abandoned." 

"The Cabinet was certainly warned, by high military authority, 
against attempting to use the troops." 

Structure 

" At present the forty-eight largest Trade Unions of the Country 
concentrate a larger membership than the much praised forty-eight 
Trade Unions of Germany did in 1914." 

" Besides the active soldiers in the Trade Union ranks, to be 
counted by hundreds of thousands, we had, in 1892, a smaller class 
of non-commissioned officers made up of the secretaries and presidents 
of local unions, branches and district Committees of National So- 
cieties, and of Trade Councils; of these we estimate that there were, 
in 1892, over 20,000 holding office at any one time. These men form 
the backbone of the trade union world, and constitute the vital ele- 
ment in working-class politics. . . . 

" These non-commissioned officers of the labor movement, from 
whose ranks nearly all the Trade Union leaders emerge, actually 
determine the trend of working-class thought. Nevertheless, these 
men are not the real administrators of trade union affairs. . . . 

" The actual government of the trade union world rests exclusively 
in the hands of a class apart, the salaried officers of the great societies. 
This Civil Service of the trade union world numbered, in 1892, be- 
tween six and seven hundred." 

In 1920 

" The affairs, industrial and political, of the six million trade 
unionists, enrolled in possibly as many as 50,000 local branches or 
lodges, are administered by perhaps 100,000 annually elected branch 
officials and shop stewards. These may be regarded as the non- 
commissioned officers of the movement. 

"We estimate the total number of the salaried officers of all the 
trade unions and their federations at three or four thousand. 

"Whilst the movement has marvelously increased in mass and 
momentum, it has been marked on the whole by inadequacy of leader- 
ship alike within each union and in the movement itself, and by a 
lack of that unity and persistency of purpose which wise leadership 
alone can give. . . . The British workmen have not become aware of 
the absolute need for what we may call labor statesmanship. 



WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 499 

" It is, we think, only the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation that 
has laid down and acted on the principle of intrusting the appoint- 
ment of salaried officials to the Executive Committee, on the express 
ground that popular election by ballot is not the right way to select 
administrative officers. 

" It looks as if any democracy on a vocational basis must inevitably 
be dominated by a diversity of sectional interests which does not 
coincide with any cleavage in intellectual opinions." 



The State and Trade Unions 

"The trade union itself has been tacitly accepted as a part of the 
administrative machinery of the state. 

" The getting and enforcing of legislation is, historically, as much 
a part of trade union function as maintaining a strike. 

" Trade unionism has, in 1920, won its recognition by Parliament 
and the Government, by law and by custom, as a separate element in 
the community, entitled to distinct recognition as part of the social 
machinery of the state, its members being thus allowed to give — like 
the Clergy in Convocation — not only their votes as citizens, but also 
their concurrence as an order or estate. ..." 

Trade Unionism is now distinctively represented on Royal Com- 
missions and Departmental Committees. It has entered the inner 
Councils of the Government, and is recognized as part of the 
machinery of State administration. Trade unions are agents of 
the National Insurance Scheme for sickness, invalidity, and ma- 
ternity benefits, and the State Unemployment benefit. 

" In practically every branch of public administration, from unim- 
portant local Committees up to the Cabinet itself, we find the trade 
union world now accepted as forming, virtually, a separate constit- 
uency, which has to be specially represented." 

" After two years propagandist effort, it seems as if the principal 
industries, such as agriculture, transport, mining, cotton, engineering, 
or shipbuilding are unlikely to adopt the Whitley Scheme. The Gov- 
ernment found itself constrained, after an obstinate resistance by the 
heads of nearly all the departments, to institute the Councils through- 
out the public service. We venture on the prediction that some such 
scheme will commend itself in all nationalized or municipalized indus- 
tries and services, including such as may be effectively ' controlled ' 
by the Government, though remaining nominally the property of the 
private Capitalist — possibly also in the Co-operative Movement; but 



500 THE PUBLIC 

that it is not likely to find favor either in the well-organized indus- 
tries (for which alone it was devised) or in those in which there are 
Trade Boards legally determining wages, etc., or, indeed, permanently 
in any others conducted under the system of capitalist profit-making." 

Workers' Control 

From the collapse of Owenism and Chartism right down to 
1910, the British Trade Unions thought of themselves as organi- 
zations to secure an ever-increasing control of the conditions 
under which they worked. 

" They neither desired nor sought any participation in the manage- 
ment of the technical processes of industry; whilst it never occurred 
to a Trade Union to claim any power over, or responsibility for, 
buying the raw materials or marketing the product. 

" The pioneer of the new faith in the United Kingdom seems to 
have been James Connolly. He was a disciple of the founder of the 
American Socialist Labor Party, Daniel De Leon." 

Then came Tom Mann, fresh from organizing strikes in Aus- 
tralia, and inspired by a visit to Paris. 

" The Syndicalist Movement had died down prior to the war, but 
the Industrial Unionist Movement simmered on in the Clyde district 
and in South Wales. Its chief organization is the Socialist Labor 
Party. It was, we think, the moving spirits of the S. L. P. who were, 
as Trade Unionist workmen, mainly responsible for the aggressive 
action of the Clyde Worker's Committee between 191 5 and 1918, and 
also for the rise of the shop stewards' movement, and for its spread 
from the Clyde to English engineering centers. At the present mo- 
ment (1920) the S. L. P., owing to the personal qualities of its leading 
spirits, J. T. Murphy and A. MacManus, holds the leading position 
in the school of thought, which received a great impulse from the 
accession of Lenin to power in Russia. But it remains a ferment 
rather than a statistically important element in the Trade Union 
world. 

" The revolutionary Industrial Unionism and Syndicalism preached 
by James Connolly and Tom Mann and other fervent missionaries 
between 1905 and 1912 did not commend itself to the officials and 
leaders of the Trade Unions. . . . But, like other revolutionary 
movements in England, it prepared the way for constitutional pro- 
posals. The bridge between the old conception of Trade Unionism and 



WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 501 

the new was built by a fresh group of Socialists who called themselves 
National Guildsmen. There was a rapid adoption between 1913 and 
1920 by many of the younger leaders of the movement, and subject 
to various modifications, also by some of the most powerful of the 
Trade Unions, of this new ideal of the development of the existing 
Trade Unions into self-organized, self-contained, self-governing indus- 
trial democracies, as supplying the future method of conducting indus- 
tries and services." 

The Trades Union Congress of 1917 pressed the Government 
to place the railways under a Minister of Railways, " who shall 
be responsible to Parliament, and be assisted by national and local 
advisory committees, upon which the organized railway workers 
shall be adequately represented." x 

At the Annual Conference in 1919 of the Postal and Telegraph 
Clerks Association, the control demanded was not restricted to 
securing better conditions of employment but aimed at participa- 
tion in directing the technical improvement of the service. 

The Miners' Bill is given in full at Section 3, Chapter 2, of the 
Appendix. It is a demand for full joint control. 



Direct Action 

The most sensational examples of Direct Action were afforded 
by the National Union of Sailors and Firemen in preventing 
labor leaders from traveling. 

" Another case was the withdrawal by the Electrical Trades Union 
in 1918 of their members (taking with them the indispensable fuses) 
from the Albert Hall in London, when the directors of the Hall 
canceled its letting for a labor demonstration. 

" The ' last word ' in Direct Action is with the police and the army, 
and there not with the officers but with the rank and file. The vast 
majority of Trade Unionists object to Direct Action, whether by 
landlords or capitalists or by organized workers, for objects other 
than those connected with the economic function of the Direct Ac- 
tionists. Trade Unionists, on the whole, are not prepared to dis- 

1 From that modest demand to the Joint Control demand of 1920 
is the measure of the British Social Revolution. Harry Gosling, head 
of the Transport Workers, has made the same psychological change 
in three years. 



502 THE PUBLIC 

approve of Direct Action as a reprisal for Direct Action taken by 
other persons, or groups. With regard to a general strike of non- 
economic or political character, in favor of a particular home or 
foreign policy, we very much doubt whether the Trades Union Con- 
gress could be induced to endorse it, or the rank and file to carry it 
out, except only in case the Government made a direct attack upon 
the political or industrial liberty of the manual working class, which 
it seemed imperative to resist by every possible means, not excluding 
forceful revolution itself. 



The New Unionism 

"The Trade Unionist objects, more strongly than ever, to any 
financial partnership with the capitalist employers, or with the share- 
holders, in any industry or service, on the sufficient ground that any 
such sharing of profits would, whilst leaving intact the tribute of rent 
and interest to householders, irretrievably break up the solidarity of 
the manual working class. 

"The object and purpose of the New Unionism of 1913-1920 cannot 
be attained without the transformation of British politics, and the 
supersession, in one occupation after another, of the capitalist profit 
maker as the governor and director of industry. 

" Profound was the disappointment, and bitter the resentment, of 
the greater part of the organized Labor Movement of Great Britain 
when it was revealed how seriously the diplomatists at the Paris 
Conference had departed from these terms (labor, Lloyd George and 
Wilson Statements) in the Treaty of Peace which was imposed on 
the Central Empires. 

" The General Federation of Trade Unions may be said to have 
now disappeared from the Trade Union world as an effective force 
in the determination of industrial or political policy. 

" Any history of Trade Unionism that breaks off at the beginning 
of 1920 halts, not at the end of an epoch, but at the opening of a new 
chapter." 

The movement is seething with new ideas, but also is uncertain 
of itself. It is groping after a precise adjustment of powers and 
functions between Associations of Producers and Associations of 
Consumers. 

" As yet the mass of the people, to whom power is passing, have 
made but little effective use of their opportunities. At least seven- 
eighths of the nation's accumulated wealth, and with it nearly, all the 






WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 503 

effective authority, is still in the hands of one-eighth of the popula- 
tion. The leisure class — the men and women who live by owning 
and not by working, a class increasing in actual numbers, if not 
relatively to the workers — seem to the great mass of working people 
to be showing themselves, if possible, more frivolous and more inso- 
lent in their irresponsible consumption, by themselves and their fami- 
lies, of the relatively enormous share that they are able to take from 
the national income. 

" The truth is that Democracy, whether political or industrial, is 
still in its infancy." 

To state the democratic problem in fundamental form, " the 
sea-saw is between the aspiration to vest the control over the 
instruments of production in Democracies of Producers, and the 
alternating belief that this control can best be vested in Democ- 
racies of Consumers." 

"The record of successive attempts, in modern industry, to place 
the entire management of industrial undertakings in the hands of 
Associations of Producers has been one of failure. In marked con- 
trast, the opposite form of Democracy, in which the management has 
been placed in the hands of Associations of Consumers, has achieved 
a large and constantly increasing measure of success." 

Not only is this shown in certain extensive fields of industrial 
operation of Municipal and National Government, but in the suc- 
cess in the importing, manufacturing, and distributing of household 
supplies, of the voluntary Associations of Consumers known as 
the Co-operative Movement. 

A vocational democracy is now to be superposed on a democracy 
based on geographical constituencies. 

In each generation there is the intolerant fanaticism of en- 
thusiasts insisting on some one form of democracy. To-day we 
see a revival of faith in Associations of Producers, as the only 
form that democratic organization can validly take. 

" There would seem to be a great development opening up for the 
Works Committees and the ' Shop Stewards.' " 

The object and purpose of the workers comprise " nothing less 
than a reconstruction of society, by the elimination, from the 
nation's industries and services, of the Capitalist Profit-maker. 



504 THE PUBLIC 

Profit-making as a pursuit, with its sanctification of the motive 
of pecuniary self-interest, is the demon that has to be exorcised. 
' Co-partnership,' or profit-sharing with individual capitalists, has 
been seen through and rejected. But the ' co-partnership ' of 
Trade Unions with Associations of Capitalists — whether as a de- 
velopment of ' Whitley Councils ' or otherwise — which far- 
sighted capitalists will presently offer in specious forms (with a 
view, particularly to Protective Customs Tariffs and other devices 
for maintaining unnecessarily high prices, or to governmental 
favors and remissions of taxation) is, we fear, hankered after by 
some Trade Union leaders." 

The above are a few extracts from the new " History." The 
Webbs mop up every salient minute fact. They operate like a 
vacuum cleaner. The student of British labor need hardly be 
reminded that no other book on these recent years is so necessary 
for him as the revised History of the Webbs. 

GENERAL COUNCIL FOR LABOR 

The special Trades Union Congress of December 9 and 10, 
1919, passed this resolution: 

" That . . . the Parliamentary Committee be instructed to revise 
the Standing Orders of Congress in such manner as is necessary to 
secure the following changes in the functions and duties of the 
Executive body elected by Congress: — 

" (1) To substitute for the Parliamentary Committee a Trades 
Union Congress General Council, to be elected annually by Congress. 

" (2) To prepare a scheme determining the composition and meth- 
ods of election of the General Council. 

" (3) To make arrangements for the development of administrative 
departments in the offices of the General Council, in the direction of 
securing the necessary officials, staff, and equipment to secure an 
efficient Trade Union center. 

"Further, the Parliamentary Committee be instructed to consult 
with the Labor Party and the Co-operative Movement, with a view to 
devising a scheme for the setting up of departments under joint 
control responsible for effective national and international service in 
the following and any other necessary directions: — 

" (a) Research: To secure general and statistical information on all 
questions affecting the worker as producer and consumer by the co- 
ordination and development of existing agencies. 



WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY 505 

" (b) Legal advice on all questions affecting the collective welfare of 
the members of working-class organizations. 

" (c) Publicity, including preparation of suitable literature dealing 
with questions affecting the economic, social, and political welfare of 
the people, with machinery for inaugurating special publicity cam- 
paigns to meet emergencies of an industrial or political character." 



INDEX 



Accidents in mines, 46 

Accountancy and audit, 350 

Adler, Felix, 370 

Administration, 484, 485 ; coal 
mines, local, 431 ; problem and 
dangers, 477, 478 

Admiralty coal, 440 

Amalgamated Society of Engi- 
neers, 206, 230 

America, civilization, 451 ; finan- 
cial position, 261 

Americans, attacks on, Bottom- 
ley's, 242 

Andrews, Mrs., 224 

Apprenticeship and the Whitley 
Councils, 364 

Aristocracy, 450 

Army, 483, 484 

Artists, 17 

Aspiration, 265 

Asquith, H. H., 123, 144 

Audit, 350 

Ball, John, 458 

Basic wage, 7 

Baths, pit-head, 223 

Beer, Max, 455, 465; on the La- 
bor Party, 462 

Belgium, labor party, in 

Bell, T., 203, 204 

Benbow, 463 

Benn, E. J., 52, 58 

Bergson, 18 

Besant, Annie, on India, at South- 
port, 94 

Births, 236 

Blacklegs, 142 

Board of Trade and the Whitley 
Councils, 366 

Bonus shares, 392 

Books. See Literature 

Bottomley, Horatio, 240 

Bowley, Professor, 298 

Brace, William, 121 ; on nation- 
alization, 90-91 



Branting, Hjalmar, message to 
British labor, no 

Bray, J. F., 467 

British Labor Party. See Labor 
Party 

British Socialist Party, 203, 204 

British society, 274 

British Trades Union Congress at 
Glasgow in September, 1919, 
action taken, 112; composition, 
114; leaders of opinion and ac- 
tion, 112; resolution as to di- 
rect action, 127; resolution for 
industrial parliament, 118; sum- 
ming up of results, 132-133; 
vote of censure, 117; vote on 
nationalization, 121 

British traits, 258 

Bromley, J., on political and di- 
rect action, 90 

Brownlie, J. T., on his interview 
with the king, 488 

Building industry, Committee of 
Scientific Management, mem- 
bership, 339, 356; conditions of 
entry, 352; organized public 
service — interim report of com- 
mittee, 339 

Building Workers' Industrial 
Union, 202 

Burns, John, 469, 470 

Bute, Marquis of, 51 

Cabinet, industrial, 139 

Campbell, Janet, 236 

Capital, living, 349 

Capital and labor, 283, 489 

Capitalism, breakdown in coal in- 
dustry, 171 ; railwaymen against, 
213 ; Russell, Bertrand on, 491 ; 
Workers' Committee movement 
and, 199 

Capitalist system, 281 

Caste, 250 

Cecil, Lord Robert, on war, 491 



507 



508 



INDEX 



Central authority, 76 

Central Hall, Westminster, 317 

Central Labor College, 169, 205, 
212, 474 

C. G. T., in 

Chartism, 467, 469; measures pro- 
posed, 468 

Chicago Convention of 1905, 204, 
207 

Child labor, 330 

Children, employment, 237; health 
and medical examinations, 238; 
health and welfare, 236-237 

Church, picture of an old Eng- 
lish, 245 

Civil service, 478, 481, 483, 486 

Class idea, 250 

Class warfare, 473 

Clyde region, 472 

Clyde Workers' Committee, 187 

Clynes, J. R., at Glasgow, on na- 
tionalization and violent meth- 
ods, 129; at Southport, on di- 
rect action and the power of 
the workers, 102; industrial 
council suggestion, 71 ; on com- 
petition, 162 ; on failure of pres- 
ent Government, 254; on po- 
litical influence, 123 ; personal- 
ity, 31, 102, 163; philosophy, 
132 ; source of power, 123 

Coal, collective production, 44; 
output, 153 

Coal Commission, 26; analysis of 
classes of witnesses, 53; col- 
lapse of owners' witnesses, 38, 
39; composition, 37 \ Gainford's 
evidence, 302; Haldane's evi- 
dence, 480; individual owner- 
ship, 44; precis of evidence sub- 
mitted by G. D. H. Cole, 409; 
sessions, 33; significance, 28; 
social revolution, 151 ; spirit 
permeating conferences, 39; un- 
rest that created it, 39; useful- 
ness, 216, 221 ; Wallas's evi- 
dence, 477; women witnesses, 
223; work, 42 

Coal industry, case for self-gov- 
ernment, 170 

Coal Industry Commission Act, 
1919, report by Mr. Justice San- 
key, 422 

Coal mines, export trade, 440; 
finance and publicity, 437; 



safety, health, and research, 
439; scheme for local adminis- 
tration, 431 ; state ownership, 
purchase and operation, 426, 428 

Coal owners, 37; case of, 48; con- 
demnation of system, 42; feel- 
ing of workmen toward, 40; re- 
buttal, 47 

Coal royalties, state ownership, 
423 

Cobbett's Register, 460 

Cole, G. D. H., 300; colloquy 
with Mr. Justice Sankey, 265, 
419; on syndicalism, etc., 475; 
precis of evidence submitted to 
Coal Commission, 409 

Coleridge, S. T M on wealth, 462 

Collective bargaining, 300, 369 

Combinations, 464, 465 ; develop- 
ment, 282 

Commercial control, 267 

Commercial management, 297 

Committee, term, 208 

Common policy, 118 

Communism, 207, 458, 459 

Communist League, 204 

Communist Party, 204 

Communists, 208 

Community enterprise, 6 

Competition, 158, 162, 289; 
growth, 282 ; workers' opposi- 
tion to the system, 256 

Compromise, British instinct for, 
5, 161, 165, 258, 472, 473 

Compulsion of Government by 
labor, 118, 121, 162; way they 
do it, 147 

Concerted action, 76 

Concession, 461 

Conciliation, 137, 473; notes on 
Whitley Councils' work as to, 363 

Connolly, James, 202, 500 

Conscription, 23, 84, 87, 90, 127, 
128, 133 ; Glasgow Congress' ac- 
tion, 112; Southport Confer- 
ence resolution, 105 

Conservation, 290 

Consumers, 273, 274; associations, 
291, 502, 503; relations with 
producers, 283 

Contentment, 216, 217 

Control of industry, as a remedy 
for unrest, 382; commercial, 
267 ; democratic, 291 ; germ, 
264 ; indefinite meaning, 264 ; la- 



INDEX 



509 



bor partnership, 138; objections 
of Baron Gainford, 302-303; 
percentage, 265, 267; railways, 
213 ; report of committee on na- 
tionalization, 281 ; sharing, 6, 7, 
27; state, 285; value, 284; 
workers' desire, 269; ^73', we 
also Joint control 

Cooper, R. W., 159 

Co-operation, 309 

Co-operative Magazine, 461 

Co-operative movement, 149, 218 

Co-operative production, 293 

Co-operative societies, 290 

Costing system, 353 

Costs, reduction. See Scientific 
management 

Councils, 310 

Coventry Engineering Joint Com- 
mittee, 192, 198 

Cramp, C. T., on self-government 
by railwaymen, 212 

Crisis, how to meet, 165 

Cummings, R. W., on the religion 
of labor, 489 

Daily Mail, 161 

D'Arragona, Signor, message to 
British labor, 109 

Davies, Emil, on joint control, 
156 

Davies, Margaret L., 226, 227 

Debs, Eugene, 20, 69 

Decasualization of labor, 343 

Decentralization, 215 

De Leon, Daniel, 203, 262, 470, 
473, 500 

Democracy, 291, 292, 452; social- 
ism and, 471 

Democracy, industrial. See In- 
dustrial democracy 

Democratic control, 291 

Derbyshire Miners' Association, 
419 

Despard, Mrs., 224 

Devonport, Lord, 140 

Dignity, 123 

Dilution, 185, 186, 188, 190 

Direct action, 88, 123 ff., 131, 133; 
demand for, 501 ; Labor Party 
and, 83, 85; meaning of the 
phrase to British workers, 105- 
106; political aims and, 89, 90; 
Southport Conference resolu- 
tion, 98, 105 



Directors, boards of, 264 

Discontent, 217 

Disputes, cost of winning, 140; 

notes on Whitley Councils' 

work as to, 363 ; railway, 441 
District Joint Industrial Councils, 

list of industries, 367 
District Mining Councils, 177, 

.178, 433 
Dividends, large, statistics, 390 
Doctors, 17 

Domestic service, 238-239 
Dukes, 216 
Duncan, Charles, 202 
Dunraven, Lord, 50, 52 
Durham, 47 

Durham, County of, 221 
Durham, Earl of, 50, 52, 165 
Dynevor, Lord, 50 

Earnings, large, statistics, 390; 
surplus, 350; wages and, 379 

Economic rent, 43 

Economic system as foundation 
of misery, 11 

Economic waste, 284 

Edinburgh Review, 460 

Education, 19, 205 ; effect on la- 
bor, 251; importance, 482; in 
mining industry, 480; Whitley 
Councils and, 364 

Education Act, 237 

Elections, municipal, 2J7 

Emergencies, British way in, 273- 
274 

Emigration, 31 

Employers, 281 ; attitude to la- 
bor, 381, 388; trade union ne- 
gotiations, 326, 335 

Employment, factory department, 
313; stabilizing, 328 

Engineering Employers' Federa- 
tion, agreement with trade 
unions, 195 

Engineering workers, 186, 190, 192 

England, beauty, 243 ; condition 
in 1810, 460; kind the workers 
want, 215; Old England, 243 

English Rent Act, 188 

Equality, instinct for, 455; labor's 
feeling, 250; political, 461. 

Equipment of workers, 269 

Esher, Viscount, 59, 487 

Export trade, 282, 287, 290; coal, 
440 



510 



INDEX 



Fabian Society, 470, 471 

Factories, legislation, 235; Rown- 
tree's dream, 306 

Factory and Workshops Act, 237 

Farrell, J. S., 9 

Federation of industries, 281 

Finance, mining industry, 415, 
437; national conditions, 97; 
situation, 29 

Fisher, F. M. B., quoted on man- 
agement, 285 

France, federation of trade 
unions, II i; working class, no 

Free speech, 492 

Freedom. See Liberty 

Fundamentals, 165, 166 

Gainford, Baron, evidence to Coal 
Commission, 302 

Gallacher, W., 204 

Geddes, Sir Eric, on competition, 
158; on Government offer to 
railwaymen, 443 

General Council for labor, 504 

General Federation of Trade 
Unions, 502 

General strike, 468; term, 463 

George, Henry, 470 

Germany, 91 

Glasgow, industrial unionism, 
202; see also British Trades 
Union Congress at Glasgow 

Gompers, Samuel, 22 

Goodrich, Carter, 273 

Gosling, Harry, 501 ; on a labor 
movement head, 139; sugges- 
tions on control, 292 

Government, attitude to labor, 
381, 388; character of the pres- 
ent, 253, 254, 255; condition in 
1810, 460; labor compulsion, 
118, 121, 162; policy in relation 
to industry, 376, 384; railway- 
men, offer to, 441 ; workers* 
compulsion, 147 ; see also State 

Government servant, new kind, 

477 
Grand National Consolidated 

Trades Union, 466 
Greenwood, Arthur, 414 
Gretton, R. H., 446 
Guild organization, 266 
Guild Socialism, 170, 182, 214, 215, 

292 
Guild Socialists, 266 



Guildsmen, 262, 263, 271, 272 

Haldane, Viscount, 265; as wit- 
ness before Coal Commission, 
480 

Hardie, Keir, 470 

Hart, Mrs. M. E., 223 

Hartshorn, Vernon, 47; on joint 
control, 156 

Hatred, 240, 241, 242 

Health, coal mining industry, 
439; industrial workers, super- 
vision, 236; workers', 308 

Health insurance, 237 

Hearst newspapers, 242 

Henderson, Arthur, 337, 390; at 
Southport, 96; on international 
movement and ending the gov- 
ernment, 116-117; on Ireland, 
495 ; on President Wilson, 86 ; 
on the Southport Conference, 
108-109; personality, 31, 163; 
position as labor leader, 115 

Herd movements, 210 

Hewlett, Maurice, quoted, 274 

Hobhouse, L. T., 318 

Hodges, Frank, at Southport 
Conference, 80; at Southport, 
on direct action, 101 ; influence 
and its secret, 123; on direct 
action for political ends, 122, 
123, 124; on industrial conflict, 
77; personality, 31, 34, 163; 
policy and philosophy, 127; 
sketch of his life, 169; typical 
views, 34-35; on workers' con- 
trol, 170 ff. 

Holidays, 314; work on, 324 

Home Rule, 493 

Home, Sir Robert, 488; on Gov- 
ernment and industry, 376; on 
trade unions, 109 

Hours of work, 7, 308, 380, 386; 
miners, 42, 43 ; recommendation 
of Second Industrial Confer- 
ence, 74; Smillie's services, 64; 
weekly maximum, 320-321 ; 
Whitley Councils* efforts in re- 
gard to, 361 ; workers' de- 
mands, 154 

House of Commons, 465 

House of Trades, 466 

Housing, 19, 328, 380, 387; miners, 
46, 219; miners', women's testi- 
mony, 223, 224; soldiers', 255 



INDEX 



511 



Hovelaque, Emile, 453. 454 
Humor, British sense of, 164, 165, 

258 
Hyndman, Henry M., 470 
Hynes, J. J., 116 

Independent Labor Party, 203, 
470, 471, 472 

India at the Southport Confer- 
ence, 94 

Industrial and political questions, 
89, 101, 121, 124 

Industrial cabinet, 139 

Industrial Conference. See Na- 
tional Industrial Conference ; 
Second Industrial Conference 

Industrial conflict, 77 

Industrial councils, 329 

Industrial democracy, 164, 183, 
475 ; Smillie as leader, 60, 62 

Industrial revolution, 185 ; see 
also Revolution 

Industrial system, 487; condition, 
277 ; development, 281 ; work- 
ers' opposition, 256 

Industrial unionism, 198, 468, 
474; change: tendencies, 207; 
ideas, 201 ; latent ideas, 204 

Industrial Workers of Great 
Britain, 201, 202 

I. W. W., 201, 204, 207 

Influence, political, 123 

Inge, Dean, on industrial system, 
256, 487 

Initiative, 482, 483, 484, 486 

Instincts in industry, 270, 273, 468 

Intellect, 451 

Intellectuals, 260, 261 

International consciousness, 254 

International movement, 116, 117 

Ireland, 493; question at Glas- 
gow, 132 ; self-determination, 

494 
Irish Republic, 494, 495 
Iron and steel trade wages, 62 
Italy, labor organization, 109 

Jenks, J. W., on prices, 283 

Jerome, J. K., on the press, 491- 
492 

John Bull, 240, 242 

Joint control, 7, 19; coal indus- 
try, 170; definition, 155; mines, 
42 ; railways, 213 ; railways, 
Government scheme, 441 ; work- 
ers' demands, 154, 169 



Joint Industrial Councils, progress 
in establishing, workpeople in 
each industry, 368; see also 
Whitley Councils 

Jones, Kennedy, 16 

Jouhaux, M., message from 
French C. G. T. to British la- 
bor, in 

Jus naturale, 458 

Key industries, 107 
Kirkwood, David, personality, 
105 

Labor, attack on old British or- 
der, 112 ; basis of forward move- 
ment, 106-107; changes sought, 
list, 19; coming into power, 
147; differences as to method, 
108; effect of the war, 7, 249; 
immediate gains, 19; inertia, 
255, 257; latent power, 9; mid- 
dle class and, 14; need of in- 
dustrial cabinet, 139; philosophy 
lacking, 18 ; philosophy of 
younger elements, 104; political 
expression, 22; religion, 489; 
slowness, 275 ; unreadiness and 
weakness, 253; weakness in 
Parliament, 115 

Labor and capital, 283, 489 

Labor College, 169, 205, 212, 474 

Labor leaders, 36, 115, 276; im- 
portance of knowing, 109; past, 
470; philosophy, 127, 132; 
Smillie, 60, 62 

Labor Party, 470, 472; direct ac- 
tion, 83, 85; early dream, 463; 
impotence, 125; Irish policy, 
493; issues, 80; membership, 
81 ; officers, 81-82 ; women and, 
225; see also Southport Con- 
ference 

Land ownership, 217, 218 

Landlords, 217 

Larkin, James, 475 

Laski, H. J., 75, 265; on psy- 
chology of industry, 272 

" Lateral pressure," 370 

Law, Bonar, quoted, 487 

Lawrence, Susan, 223 

Leadership, 133; se-e also Labor 
leaders 

League of nations, MacDonald 
on, 81, 91, 93 



512 



INDEX 



Leisure, 19 

Leisure class, 503 

Liberalism, 457, 472; relations 

with labor, 461 
Liberty, 6, 458, 466; spirit to win, 

.159 
Lippmann, Walter, quoted, 272 
Literature, books which have 
moved the masses, 457 ; com- 
munistic, 209 ; socialistic, 455 ; 
sociological, 203 
Lloyd George, David, cure for un- 
rest, 252; opportunism, 165; 
peace program, 254 
Local Mining Council, 431 
London Corresponding Society, 

459 

London School of Economics, 
482, 485 

Londonderry, Marquis of, 50, 165 

Lords, as witnesses in Coal Con- 
ference, 49 

Lovett, William, 467 

Luddite actions, 460 

Macarthur, Mary R., 226, 227 

MacDonald, Ramsay, on league 
of nations, 81, 91, 93; on the 
labor conflict, 488; personality, 
91-92 

McGurk, J., address at South- 
port, 84 

Machinery, 468 

McLaine, William, on President 
Wilson, 85 

Maclean, Neil, 98 

MacManus, A., 203, 204 

Management, coal industry, 152; 
coal industry, state share, 413; 
commercial, 297; objection to 
bureaucratic, 285 ; problem, 272 ; 
state, 285; wages of, 347; 
workers' share, 296; see also 
Scientific management 

Managerial classes, 264, 272 

Manchester Guardian, quoted, 

487 

Manchester national conference 
of stewards' committees, 191 

Mann, Tom, 75, 202, 205, 474» 
500; life and influence, 206 

Manual workers' equipment, 269 

Markets, 293-294 

Marshall, Alfred, on Guild or- 
ganization, etc., 266 



Marx, Karl, 472 

Marxian teaching, 205, 212 

Materialism, 490 

Maternity and Child Welfare 
Act, 236 

Maternity Benefit, 236 

Middle class, associations, 13; 
bankruptcy imminent, 12; creed, 
457; definition, 13, 17; future 
prospects, 15; history and 
qualities, 446; labor movement 
and, 14; protests against condi- 
tion, 12 

Middle Classes' Union, 16 

Military service, effect in organ- 
ized labor, 190 

Millionaires, 218, 219 

Milner, Viscount, on nationaliza- 
tion, 490 

Miners, bill for nationalization, 
172; condition, families, etc., 45, 
47; condition in past, 39; con- 
sciousness of wrong, 171 ; hous- 
ing, 46; life of a miner, 47, 58, 
216; strength of their union, 
113; unrest, 55. 

Miners' Federation, 172 

Miners' wives, 223 

Miners, accidents, 46; joint con- 
trol, 219; ownership, 220; see 
also Coal Commission ; Coal 
mines ; Nationalization 

Minimum wage, 7 

Mining. See Coal industry 

Mining districts, 433 

Minister of Mines, 174 

Minister of Railways, 501 

Ministry of Labor's notes on 
Whitley Councils, July, 1919, 
358 

Ministry of Transport, 212, 441 

Mob element, 240 

Mobilization, 481 

Money, Sir Leo Chiozza, 35, 38 

Money, 446, 452 

Monopolies, 301 ; state, 287, 288, 
289; state regulation, 289 

Morris, George, quoted, 32 

Morrison, James, 464 

Mothers' health and welfare, 236 

Motor transport, 141 

Muir, J. W., 203 

Municipal elections, 2yy 

Municipal enterprise, 287 

Munitions work for women, 238 



INDEX 



513 



Munro, Sir Thomas, 318, 337 
Murphy, J. T., 204; on shop 
stewards and workers' commit- 
tee movement, 184; on the 
ideas of revolutionary labor, 
201 ; sketch, 184 

Napoleonic wars, 459 
National Guilds League, 207 
National Guildsmen, 501 
National Health Insurance Act, 

237 

National Industrial Conference, 
meeting of Feb. 28, 1919, 70; 
party, constituent, 71 ; report by 
subcommittee, 73 ; resolution, 
71 ; results, 73 ; see also Second 
Industrial Conference 

National Industrial Council, 330, 
336; constitution, 332; objects, 
331; proposed, 74, 320; trade 
union representation scheme, 
337; Whitley Councils and, 370 

National Joint Industrial Confer- 
ence, 26 

National Mining Council, 174, 
436 

National resources, conservation, 
290; waste, 284 

National Workers' Council, 186 

Nationalization, 129, 133; Coal 
Commission and, 96 ; coal own- 
ers' position, 51, 53 ; committee 
report, 281 ; definition, 285 ; 
Glasgow Congress vote, 121 ; is- 
sue at the front, 96; key indus- 
tries, 7 ; Labor Party and, 83 ; 
Milner, Viscount, on, 490; Min- 
er's bill, 172; mines, 49, 80, 89, 
90, 91 ; mines, Glasgow Con- 
gress action, 112; mines, San- 
key's report, 54; miners' report 
rejected, 276; Peterborough, 
Bishop of, on, 490 ; public utili- 
ties 19, Smillie on, 118; value, 
284, 285; Wallas, Graham, on, 
477 

Nationalization of Mines and 
Minerals Bill, 1919, 344 

Natural law, 458 

Natural rights, 458 

Navy, 483, 484 

Negotiations of employers' and 
workers' associations, 326, 335 

Neutral trades, 137 



New Age, 214, 475 

New order, General Smuts on, 

249, 492 
Newspapers, disturbing element 

in, 240, 241 
Nobility, 165, 216 
Norris, William, 243 
Northumberland, Duke of, 51, 96, 

165 
Notification of Births Act, 236 

Old age pensions, 330 

Old England, 243 

" Old timers," 30 

One big union, 208, 466, 467 

Oratory, 123 

Order, British love of, 163 

Organization, by industry, 207, 
208; large-scale, 477; Whitley 
Councils and, 365 

Output, restriction, 153, 342 

Overtime, 323, 328 

Owen, Robert, 461, 463, 464 

Ownership, mines, national, 415; 
private, 220; private and na- 
tional, 161; public, 215; state, 
267 

Oxford movement, 468 

Parliament, labor groups weak- 
ness, 115 

Parliamentary Committee of the 
Trades Union Congress, cen- 
sured, 117; character, 114, 115; 
instruction for scheme of com- 
mon policy, 118; slowness, 20, 
26; Smillie and, 66; strength- 
ened by Thomas, 133 

Participation. See Control; Joint 
Control 

Patricia, Princess, 73 

Paul, W., 203 

Peace policy, 254 

Peet, George, 204 

Pensions, 330 

People, will of, 166 

People's Charter, 467 

Perry, R. B., quoted, 251 

Peterborough, Bishop of, on na- 
tionalization, 490 

Phillips, Marion, 107, 224, 226, 
227 

Piece work, 314 

Pit-head baths, 223 

Plumb plan, 213, 273 



514 



INDEX 



Political capacity, 166 

Political influence, 123 

Poverty, 166, 274; abolishing, 
159; as sequel of the war, 29; 
British workers, n, 12; pros- 
pect, 238, 239, 260, 261 

Press, Jerome, J. K., on, 491-492; 
mob and hatred elements, 340 

Pressure. See Compulsion of 
Government 

Price, Sir Keith, on bureaucratic 
management, 285 

Prices, 261, 283, 373, 383 

Private enterprise, 9, 52, 158, 163; 
failure, 152; in America, 10; 
mining, 43 

Private interests, 162 

Problems, 223 

producers' associations, 502, 503; 
relations with consumers, 283 

Production, 30; co-operative, 293; 
regulating, 464 ; unemploy- 
ment and, 328-329 

Profiteering, 7, 374, 383 

Profits, 36; conception, 446; pool- 
ing, 299; private, 19, 157, 158; 
questions as to, 41, 42, 43; 
shareholders', 9; snaring, 298, 
299; surplus earnings, 350 

Property, miners, 43; rights, 49, 
52; sacredness, 10, 62, 164 

Psychology, change, 251 ; need of, 
270 

Public opinion, disturbers of, 240; 
railway disputes, 441 ; reaching, 
143; various quotations, 487 

Public ownership, 215; see also 
Ownership 

Public service, building industry 
report, 339 

Public service industries, 287 

Public utilities, 19, 163 

Publicity, 240, 505 ; mining indus- 
try, 437; trade statistics, 297; 
Whitley Councils and, 365 

Radicals, rewards in the past, 469 

Railway Advisory Committee, 
441, 444, 445 

^Railway strike, 136; fourteen me- 
diators list, 136, 137; govern- 
ment and, 140; result, 142; 
Webb summary, 497 

Railwaymen, Government offer 
to, 441; self-government, 212; 



wages, 276; workers' control, 
264 

Railways, joint control, 213; or- 
ganization proposed, 213 

Recognition, 326; of trade unions, 
380, 387, 499; principle of, 264 

Reconstruction, 28, 254, 257; 
failure, 275 

Rectory, an old English, 244 

Redmayne, Sir Richard, on indi- 
vidual ownership, 157-158; on 
ownership of collieries, 44; 
questioned by Smillie, 45 

Reform, 456; revolutionary char- 
acter, 457 

Reform committees, 199 

Regularization of demand, 342 

Religion of labor, 489 

Renaudel, Pierre, message to 
British labor, no 

Renold, C. G., 269 

Report of Provisional Joint Com- 
mittee at Industrial Conference, 
Westminster, April 4, 1919, 317 

Report on nationalization, 281 

Representative machinery, 381, 
387 

Reserve funds, 393 

Restriction of output, 153; fac- 
tors, 342 

Reverence, loss of, 250 

Revolution, as organic change, 
113; British attitude, 27, 28; 
change by constitutional meth- 
ods, 167 ; evolutionary, 128 ; gen- 
tle, 152, 161; "humorous," 164; 
social, 151, 153, 163; without a 
philosophy, 9; workers and, 99- 
100; workers' demands, 154 

Revolutionary wing of labor, 201, 
209 

Rowntree, B. S., on the ideal fac- 
tory, 306 

Rhondda, 224 

Rights, 458 

Royalty, industrial conference 
and, 73 

Russell, Bertrand, on capitalism, 
491 

Russia, British Labor Party on 
ending intervention, 80, 82, 85 ; 
direct action in case of, 122; 
Glasgow Congress action on, 
112; Glasgow Congress discus- 
sion, 117; intervention, 84, 85 



INDEX 



515 



Safety in coal mines, 439 

Salariat, 13 

Sanity, 258 

Sankey, Mr. Justice, 33, 54, 173, 
285; colloquy with Cole, 265, 
419; on a new class of men, 
266; on administrative officers, 
486; on incentive, 267; report — 
Coal Industry Commission Act, 
1919, 422; report on Coal Com- 
mission, 54; report rejected, 
276; women's testimony, 224 

Scientific imagination, 269 

Scientific management, 62, 315; 
building industry, 340, 352 

Scott, J. W., on syndicalism, 18 

Second Industrial Conference, 
April 4, 1919, 74; Report of 
Provisional Joint Committee, 
317 

Sectional unions, 104 

Self-determination, Ireland, 132; 
nations, 255 ; various groups of 
workers, 268 

Self-government, in industry, 271 ; 
railwaymen, 212 ; workshops, 
292, 294 

Seriousness of British labor lead- 
ers, 123 

Seven-hour day, 43 

Sexton, James, at Southport, on 
nationalization and conscription, 
89-90 

Shackleton, Sir David, 318 

Shaw, G. Bernard, 471 

Shaw, Tom, 121 ; on industrial ac- 
tion in political matters, 122; 
on Russia and conscription, 128 

Sheffield Workers' Committee, 
184, 189 

Shop committees, 503 

Shop steward, 503 ; regulation (of 
certain trade unions) regarding 
employment and functions, 196 

Shop Stewards' movement, 27, 
184; growth and character, 186; 
organization, 185 ; philosophy, 
201 ; structure, principles, ob- 
jects, shop rules, 188 

Short time, organized, 327 

Slackness, 274 

Slesser, Air., 172 

Slowness, British, 20, 21, 164 

Slums, 218-219 

Smillie, Robert, 19; appearance, 



65 ; at Coal Commission, 49, 56 ; 
at Glasgow, on the Russian 
blockade and intervention, 117; 
belief, 23; eloquence, 66; in 
Southport Conference, 88; moral 
authority, 68-69; on evolution- 
ary revolution, 128; on joint 
control, 156; on nationalization, 
118; personal life, 59; person- 
ality, 31, 62, 134, 163; power, 
28; public life, 58; summary of 
views, 215; traits, 65, 66; voice, 
67, 68 

Smith, A. M., 337 

Smith, Herbert, 37 

Smuts, General, on the new order, 
249, 492 

Snowden, Philip, 105 

Social changes, unconscious, 209 

Social revolution, what is said of 
it, 487; see also under Revolu- 
tion 

Socialism, definition, 31 ; develop- 
ment, 469; phases in history, 
470; revolution and, 220 

Socialist Labor Party, 202, 203, 
205, 468, 470 

Socialist Labor Party in Scotland, 
473 

Socialist society, 215 

Socialist state, 29, 31, 259 

Socialists, origin of term, 461 

Soldiers, houses for, 255; re- 
turned soldiers' demands and 
feelings, 82 

South Wales, 205, 472 

South Wales miners, 172 

South Wales Miners' Federation, 
206 

Southport Conference, June, 1919, 
discussions, 84; foreign dele- 
gates, 91, 93, 109; messages 
from foreign labor leaders, 109; 
resolution on conscription, 105 ; 
resolution on direct action, 98, 
105; summary, 79; women as 
speakers, 107 

Standard of living, 6, 19; miners, 
42 

Standing Joint Committee of In- 
dustrial Women's Organiza- 
tions, 226 

State, aim, 289; development of 
industry, 328: industry and, 
300; monopolies, control, 285, 



516 



INDEX 



289; ownership, purchase, and 
operation of coal mines, 426, 
428; ownership and purchase of 
coal royalties, 423, 425 ; place 
of, 457; see also Government 

State management, 285 

State ownership, 267 

Statistics, Whitley Councils and, 
365 

Stevenson, Sir D. M., 57 

Storrs, J., 340 

Straker, William, 409; on free- 
dom, 159 

Strike committee, term, 208 

Strikes, dangerous weapon, 122; 
for political ends, 85, 87; gen- 
eral, 463, 468; of May, 1917, 
191; on political issues, 113; 
principles of Government ac- 
tion, 144; right to strike, 213; 
universal, 256 

Surplus earnings, 350 

Sweden, labor, no 

Syndicalism, 17, 156, 174, 214, 292, 
464, 467, 468, 472, 500; British 
brand, 262; French, 474; inter- 
pretation and adaptation, 475 ; 
new phase, 473; socialism and, 
473 

Syndicalists, 206, 270 

Talbot, Benjamin, 62 

Tawney, R. H., 35, 2>7 ; on labor 
and capital, 489; views, 36 

Taxation, 19, 166, 167 

Teachers, condition, 14 

"Team spirit," 341, 352, 356 

Technical employees, 15 

Technical officers, 479 

Textile trades, 235 ; women in, 230 

Theft, 311-312 

Thinkers, 262 

Thomas, J. H., at Glasgow, on in- 
dustrial action in political mat- 
ters, 122 ; Government scheme 
of joint railway control, 441; 
leadership, 133 ; on conscription, 
127 ; on demands of workers, 
154; on Ireland, on results of 
Glasgow Congress, 132, 133; on 
state ownership of mines, 120; 
personality, 60 

Tillett, Ben, on direct action and 
revolution, 99; personality, 99 

Titles, 450, 451 



Trade, definition in committee re- 
port, 325 

Trade statistics, publicity, 297 

Trade union leaders, 136, 220, 253 

Trade unionism, atmosphere, 295; 
conception, 457; development 
before 1832, 463; intellectuals, 
260, 261 ; membership, 496, 498 ; 
new unionism, 502; representa- 
tion, 499; slowness, 20; state 
recognition, 300, 499; strength- 
ening its central government, 
142; structure in 1920, 498; 
Webb History, revised edition, 
496 ; women and, 228 ; workers' 
control and, 500 

Trade unions, 309; attitude to- 
ward employment of women, 
228; exclusively for women, 
229; future common policy pro- 
posed, 118; leadership, 115; 
membership, 115; minority con- 
trol, 269; negotiations with em- 
ployers, 326, 335 ; old timers, 30 ; 
partnership in control of indus- 
try, 138; power, 29, 76; pres- 
sure, 370; recognition, 380, 387; 
scheme for representation on 
National Industrial Council, 
337; shop steward regulations, 
196; value, 109; women's mem- 
bership, 229, 239 

Trades Union Congress, what it 
is, 26 

Trades Union Congress of De- 
cember, 1919, 142, 206, 504; see 
also British Trade Union Con- 
gress, etc.; Parliamentary Com- 
mittee of the Trades Union 
Congress 

Traits. See British traits 

Transport Workers' Federation, 
136, 139, 141 

Treasury Agreement, 220, 238 

Treaty of Versailles, 253, 502 

Tredegar, Lord, 50 

Tree, old, 246 

Triple Alliance, 19, 148, 150, 220 

Trust, 312 

Ulster, 494, 495 . 
Under-consumption, 328-329 
Unemployment, 19, 152, 316; as 
cause of unrest, 377; dealing 
with, 384; maintenance during, 



INDEX 



517 



329, 336; pay, 345; preventing, 

327, 335 

Unionism, industrial versus sec- 
tional, 107; see also Trade 
unionism 

Universal strike, 256 

Universal suffrage, 466 

University Socialist Federation, 
263 

Unrest, causes and remedies, 295; 
causes and remedies — memo- 
randum of Joint Committee of 
National Industrial Conference, 
371; extent, 255; Lloyd George 
and, 252; miners, 55; occasions, 
251 

Upper class, 27, 216, 250, 449, 452 

Van Roosbroeck, M., message to 

British labor, 11 1 
Violence, 129, 259 

Wages, earnings and, 379; effect 
of war on the question, 138; 
increase, 254; iron and steel, 62; 
low scale in past, 11, 12; medi- 
ators in railway dispute, 136; 
miners', 42; miners', Baron 
Gainford on, 303; notes on 
Whitley Councils' work as to, 
358; of management, 347; pay- 
ment by results, 300; Pro- 
visional Joint Committee on, 
320, 324, 334; railway, scale of 
Government, 143 ; railway war 
workers in 1906; 378; sugges- 
tions as to, 385; two kinds, 313; 
women's, 232, 233 ; women's, fu- 
ture, 234; workers' demands, 

154 

Wallas, Graham, 270, 271 ; as 
witness before Coal Commis- 
sion, 477 

War, Cecil, Robert, on, 491 ; ef- 
fect, 21, 252, 260; effect on coal 
industry, 171 ; effect on labor, 
7, 249 ; effect on women's wages, 
233 ; poverty as sequel, 29 

War advances, dealing with, 325 

War Cabinet Committee on 
Women in Industry, 228, 230, 
233 

War Office, 481 

Warblington, 243 

Waste, economic, 284, 290 



Wealth, Coleridge on, 462; redis- 
tribution, 455; taxation to dis- 
tribute, 19; unequal distribu- 
tion, 378 

Weavers, 446 

Webb, Sidney, 470, 471, 482; on 
co-operative production, 294; on 
the railway strike, 144; on the 
workers' pressure on the Gov- 
ernment, 147, 148; personality, 
35, 37, 81 

Webbs' " History of Trade Union- 
ism," revised edition, 496 

Whitley Councils, 74, 296; experi- 
mentation, 75 ; failure, 70 ; notes 
on their work, July, 1919, by 
Ministry of Labor, 358; prog- 
ress in 1920, 369; women's 
wages, 234 

Whitley reports, 154, 155 

Widows, 239 

Williams, Robert, on the Triple 
Alliance, 150; personality, 87; 
returned soldiers and, 82 

Wilson, Havelock, defeat and 
cause, 120 

Wilson, Woodrow, Bottomley on, 
241, 242; British labor's disil- 
lusionment in, 85, 86 

Women, as Coal Commission 
witnesses, 223; at Southport 
Conference, 107 ; economic posi- 
tion, 227; exceptional, list, 227; 
future wages, 234; interests of 
working women, 226; Labor 
Party and, 225; Labor Party 
conference at Southport, 223 ; 
munitions' work, 238; prospects, 
238; state regulation of work in 
the past, 235; technical ability, 
479; trade unions for, 229; 
wages, 232, 233 

Work, British scorn of, 274 

Workers, as ruling class, 103; de- 
mands in brief, 6, 7; ideas and 
elements of change, 201, 210; 
instincts rather than conscious 
purposes, 210 ; power, 456, 469; 
power, unrealized, 131, 221, 
269; sense of humor, 164; so- 
ciety they want, 215 ; thinkers 
and, 262; see also Labor 

Workers' committee, term, 208 

Workers' committee movement, 
184 



518 INDEX 

Workers' control, 169; basis of Working women, 226; see also 

system, 263-264; detailed study, Women 

273; reason for, in the mining Workmen's Compensation Act, 

industry, 410; trade unionism 237 

and, 500; see also Control; Works committees, 297, 355; 

Joint Control Whitley Councils and, 367 

Workers' council, term, 208 Workshop control, 184, 198 
Workers' International Industrial 

Union [Workers' Union], 201 Yew tree, 246 

Workers' Socialist Federation, 204 " Young Men in a Hurry," 30 

Working conditions, Whitley Youth, philosophy, 104 

Councils and, 363 Youth at the stirrup, 79, 80 



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